In early 2020, Intermountain Health set out on a significant mission to expand its Primary Children’s Hospital network by adding a second campus in the thriving suburb of Lehi. This new facility would offer families in the area access to high-quality pediatric care, right in their own community, ensuring timely and convenient healthcare for children.
After four years of meticulous planning and execution, the Primary Children’s Miller Campus opened its doors in February 2024. This state-of-the-art, five-story facility boasts 66 beds and is equipped to provide a comprehensive range of pediatric services, including trauma and emergency care, behavioral health support, intensive care, surgery, and specialized clinics.
The Importance of Early Partner Involvement
Understanding the intricacies involved in building a major specialty hospital, Intermountain Health prioritized careful planning from the outset. This foresight led them to form a highly effective project team that included not only internal operations but also external strategic partners and technical experts. Their collective input ensured that every aspect of the new hospital, from layout to operations, was fully prepared well before the opening day.
R1, as Intermountain’s dedicated revenue cycle partner, played a crucial role in this collaboration. From the very beginning, R1 was involved in shaping the revenue cycle systems and processes that would be critical to the hospital’s success, ensuring a seamless and efficient go-live.
Preparing for Operational Success: Revenue Cycle and Technology Integration
The early collaboration between R1 and Intermountain laid the foundation for a robust and efficient revenue cycle management (RCM) system. By the time the hospital opened its doors, key RCM elements were fully in place, ensuring the facility could operate smoothly from day one.
Key preparatory steps included:
Staffing, Training, and Onboarding: The project team focused on equipping staff in patient-facing departments such as registration, financial counseling, and health information management (HIM). By implementing best-practice staffing models and tailored training programs, they ensured that the Miller Campus would deliver the highest level of patient experience.
Acquiring and Setting Up Patient-Facing Technology: Ensuring the hospital had the right technology in place was a top priority. The team secured and set up critical patient-facing hardware across departments, including admitting, imaging, and surgery, ensuring consistent service delivery throughout the facility.
Revenue Integrity and Charge Services: During the first few months, R1’s revenue integrity team worked closely with Intermountain to monitor and ensure proper charge capture, billing accuracy, and prevent revenue leakage – an essential task, especially for a newly opened facility.
Tech Enablement and Seamless Data Flow
A critical part of the success behind the new campus was IT optimization. The R1 team managed technical updates to ensure systems were fully aligned with the needs of the new hospital. This involved creating bidirectional interfaces between hospital systems for smooth data sharing, and close coordination between IT teams from both Intermountain and R1 to ensure data accuracy across platforms.
In addition to software integration, R1 provided on-site hardware and coordinated efforts with Intermountain to streamline the registration and check-in process for patients, enhancing the overall patient experience.
