Accretive Health took a big hit in 2014, a net loss of nearly $80 million compared to a $130 million profit a year earlier, according to a new company filing.
The Chicago-based company, which specializes in helping hospitals collect bill payments from patients and insurers, released details of its 2014 financial performance today in a continued effort to catch up on having to re-file years of financial statements.
“We are on a firm pathway to executing our strategy and believe the Company is laying a solid foundation for future growth,” Dr. Emad Rizk, president and CEO of Accretive, said in a statement accompanying the financial results.
Rizk has been rebuilding the company since taking over nearly a year ago. He had his work cut out for him.
Accretive stock reached a four-year high in August 2011, trading at nearly $31, then it crashed. During that time, the Minnesota attorney general accused the company of sending aggressive debt collectors into hospitals to get money from patients. Accretive eventually settled and left the state.
The company had to restate financials dating to 2009, and it was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. Accretive CEO and co-founder Mary Tolan was replaced by former Dell executive Stephen Schuckenbrock, who stayed for about a year. Then came Rizk, previously president of McKesson Health Solutions, a division of San Francisco-based McKesson that helps hospitals manage health care costs.
Last month, the Accretive board underwent a reboot. Half of the 14-member board, including company founders Mary Tolan and J. Michael Cline, resigned or didn't plan to run for re-election.
While Accretive is among the biggest independent companies of its kind, it battles for business not just from players in the hospital billing industry, but also from health systems that are bringing in-house hospital billing and other services Accretive provides.
"Accretive lost nearly $80 million last year" originally appeared on the website of Crain's Chicago Business.
