Accretive Health, a revenue-cycle vendor that last year was saved by an infusion of cash from Ascension, has changed its name to R1 RCM Inc., the company announced Thursday.
The R1 reflects the one-stop suite of products that the company can provide to hospitals, physicians or other providers under any payment model, the company said in a release.
“Our mission is to be the one trusted partner to manage revenue so providers and patients can focus on what matters most,” said R1 CEO Joe Flanagan.
Companies like R1 supply hospitals and caregivers with software that allows them to register patients, qualify insurance coverage, bill for services and track collections. Revenue cycle is typically managed by the finance department.
In 2011, Accretive was accused by the Minnesota attorney general of misusing patient data and engaging in overly aggressive collection tactics. Under a settlement, Accretive paid a fine and agreed to temporarily stop doing business in the state.
Ascension, whose hospitals account for a significant portion of Accretive's revenue, sought to buy the Chicago-based company in 2015. Accretive rejected the offer, deeming it too low.
St. Louis-based Ascension then threw Accretive a lifeline when it partnered with private equity firm TowerBrook Capital Partners to buy a 40% stake in what's now R1.
Catholic-sponsored Ascension, the nation's largest not-for-profit hospital company in St. Louis with 141 hospitals across the country, also agreed to a 10-year sole-source contract for acute-care revenue-cycle products and support. All told, Ascension and TowerBrook had plans to invest $200 million in R1.
R1's board of directors promoted Flanagan to CEO in May after operating losses continued to mount under former CEO Dr. Emad Rizk.
Flanagan has helped engineer a turnaround of the company's fortunes. After losing $84.3 million in 2015 and $79.6 million for 2014, the company through nine months ended Sept. 30, had posted net income of $163.9 million on revenue of $486.4 million.