Blake Evans, System VP of Revenue Cycle at Rush Health, is driving consolidation of fragmented operations by prioritizing workforce engagement and embedding clinical expertise directly into financial workflows.
Earlier this year, Blake Evans stepped into the role of System Vice President of Revenue Cycle at Rush Health. He has eschewed change for the sake of change in favor of a more strategic approach: to embark on an initiative to consolidate and streamline revenue cycle functions.
Relying as much on his background in consulting as his experience working from a coffee shop, Evans maintains focus on people, process, and technology as he eyes change throughout the health system. In his first 90 days, he aimed to stop, assess, and listen.
“I spent about a month and a half interviewing over 75 leaders on my team as well as key stakeholders in the organization," Evans says.
Unifying People and Processes
Like many health systems, revenue cycle operations at Rush became fragmented as the organization evolved. One structure that dictated revenue cycle operations at one Rush campus was separate from the structure at two other campuses. Now, the goal is to consolidate revenue system functions into centralized teams and system-level roles.
The consolidation is closely linked to a service area consolidation project, which aims to move all of the revenue cycle functions into a single Epic environment. Significant progress has been made toward these goals. Rush has heavily scrutinized revenue cycle workflows and recently made over 1,000 process changes in Epic that standardize roles throughout the health system, according to Evans.
Bridging the Gap Between Clinical and Revenue Cycle Teams
Balancing clinical and financial goals is a challenge for every revenue cycle leader. Rush hopes to bridge the gap by embedding clinicians within revenue cycle functions. Nurses and physicians now work directly alongside revenue cycle staff on prior authorization, revenue integrity, and appeals.
The CMO and medical group leadership also attend monthly revenue cycle governance calls to ensure that decisions are made collaboratively.
“They understand not only the clinical, they also understand the financial,” Evans says. “So, it’s really helped to bridge some of that gap.”
Technology, Transparency, and the Patient Experience
Most revenue cycle leaders face difficult decisions when it comes to deciding between their EHRs’ native tools for certain revenue cycle functions and third-party bolt-on solutions. Uncertainty around emerging technologies has also left many health systems wary of adopting new technologies before they see it implemented at other organizations.
However, Rush has made the strategic decision to always leverage Epic functionality first and to be one of the first to implement new tools. This is part of the revenue cycle’s quest to be an industry leader, according to Evans.
“We want to be industry leaders, right? So, you can’t be an industry leader and not be an early adopter,” he says.
Putting this philosophy into practice, Rush recently became one of the first health systems to go live with an Epic AI billing chatbot. This tool allows individuals to address questions about itemized bills and financial assistance via MyChart, dramatically reducing call center volume and improving response times.
Efforts to be an industry leader on technology align with a broader goal to create better financial experiences for patients. The health system has recently introduced flexible payment options, like Google Pay and Apple Pay, and has achieved Epic diamond status for accuracy in patient estimates.
The combined focus on operational consolidation, clinical collaboration, and technological leadership has paid off. Core KPIs have all improved since Evans stepped into the role of System Vice President of Revenue Cycle.
The results so far validate Evans’ approach, which attributes to a service-first mindset.
“It’s one thing to be a leader, but if you don’t have anybody when you look around, you’re not a great leader,” he says.
Luke Gale is the revenue cycle editor for HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Rush is consolidating fragmented revenue cycle operations from multiple campuses into centralized teams and a single Epic environment .
The health system bridges the clinical-financial gap by embedding nurses and physicians directly into revenue cycle roles like prior authorization and appeals.
An Epic-first technology strategy drives early adoption of tools like AI billing chatbots to enhance the patient financial experience.