NYC Health + Hospitals will implement new revenue cycle technology from Epic Systems with the aim of improving efficiency and collecting the maximum amount of revenue for the services it delivers.

In February, NYC Health + Hospitals pushed back the next phase of its $764 million, systemwide Epic electronic health record system rollout by several months. The delay came nearly a year after Charles Perry, MD, associate executive director and liaison to the Epic project at NYC H+H’s Queens and Elmhurst Hospital Centers, quit amid a controversy over patient safety. The health system said the delay was to take into account insights learned from the successful first phase of the implementation, though it declined to specify what those insights were.

[Also: NYC H+H delays next stage of Epic EHR rollout]

NYC H+H now projects the Epic revenue cycle system will help it capture an additional 5 percent of adjusted patient revenue, which would total $142 million based on 2016 patient volume. Additional expected benefits include improved clinical documentation to support billed services, reduced claims denials and accelerated reimbursements.

The new technology is expected to standardize revenue collection and will integrate seamlessly with the Epic electronic health record system NYC Health + Hospitals began to adopt last year. The health system added that Epic’s revenue cycle technology will create a common platform for all providers, who will be able to complete tasks without having to jump from system to system.

NYC Health + Hospitals, the city’s public health system, will invest $289 million over the next five years to fully implement the new system at its 11 hospitals, five long-term care facilities, and more than 70 community-based health centers, the provider organization said. The City of New York has allocated $150 million in capital funds, and NYC Health + Hospitals will invest $139 million out of its operating costs, pending approval by its board, it added.

The rollout of the integrated platform is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2018. The integrated revenue cycle and electronic health record suite is expected to be fully completed in the last quarter of 2020.

“This information technology system is an essential investment that will pay for itself in a couple of years and provide the IT foundation for more advanced population health efforts,” said NYC Health + Hospitals interim president and CEO Stan Brezenoff. “In addition to its impact on our revenue, it’s also a fundamental component of our health system’s transformation to more streamlined and efficient operations. The result will be a greatly improved user and patient experience.”

Having revenue and clinical processes in a single system should make a big difference in productivity for the largest public health system in the country, said Judy Faulkner, Epic founder and CEO .

Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT
Email the writer: bill.siwicki@himssmedia.com

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