Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / UChicago Medicine’s Finance Strategy for Growth, AI and Revenue Cycle Transformation

Transcript

UChicago Medicine’s Finance Strategy for Growth, AI and Revenue Cycle Transformation · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:00
  - When it comes to today's RCM, we know
• 0:02
  - the challenges,
• 0:03
  - complexity of claims, talent shortages,
• 0:05
  - low funding, and lagging tech.
• 0:08
  - That's why we built MedMetrix.
• 0:10
  - We have the expertise and advanced tech to
• 0:13
  - give you that edge on your revenue cycle.
• 0:15
  - We're a partner who will relentlessly raise your
• 0:17
  - yield, a partner who's on your side because
• 0:20
  - they've been operator side, who knows your battles
• 0:23
  - and will make sure you win from start
• 0:25
  - to finish, end to end. MedMetrix,
• 0:28
  - be exceptional.
• 0:30
  - This is Madeline with the Becker CFO and
• 0:32
  - revenue cycle podcast, and I'm thrilled to be
• 0:34
  - joined by Chris Allen, CFO of UChicago Medicine
• 0:38
  - right here in the Windy City. Chris, thanks
• 0:40
  - so much for joining me. Oh, thanks for
• 0:42
  - having me. Glad to be here.
• 0:45
  - Yeah. Yeah. Looking forward to an awesome conversation.
• 0:47
  - But before we kick things off, would you
• 0:49
  - mind sharing with our listeners just a little
• 0:51
  - bit more about yourself and your,
• 0:54
  - current role at UChicago Medicine?
• 0:56
  - Sure.
• 0:58
  - I have been in health care for just
• 1:01
  - over
• 1:02
  - about thirty years.
• 1:05
  - Been at UChicago Medicine for just over a
• 1:07
  - year now. This is, I think, my eighth
• 1:10
  - health system during my career.
• 1:13
  - Mhmm. And, actually, I have worked at UChicago
• 1:15
  - Medicine. This is my second stint. I worked
• 1:17
  - here earlier... Much earlier in my career in
• 1:20
  - the in the mid nineties,
• 1:22
  - but,
• 1:23
  - I come back here as CFO
• 1:27
  - of a much larger health system than when
• 1:29
  - when I once left.
• 1:31
  - We are a seven,
• 1:32
  - hospital health system.
• 1:34
  - We just finished our fiscal year '26. We'll
• 1:37
  - be
• 1:37
  - just over 6,000,000,000
• 1:39
  - in
• 1:40
  - revenue. So we are,
• 1:42
  - growing,
• 1:43
  - by leaps and bounds.
• 1:45
  - Oh, that is so great to hear. And,
• 1:47
  - obviously, before we get into the discussion, I
• 1:50
  - have to ask, what was your first role
• 1:52
  - at UChicago Medicine in the nineties?
• 1:54
  - Yeah. My,
• 1:55
  - in the in the nineties,
• 1:57
  - it's my... Actually, my second job out of
• 2:00
  - college, I was a budget analyst in the
• 2:02
  - school of medicine. So it's basic science division,
• 2:06
  - otherwise known as the BSD here.
• 2:08
  - Cool. How does that feel to come full
• 2:10
  - circle? That's so neat to hear. Yeah. It
• 2:12
  - was it was kinda surreal because the Executive
• 2:16
  - Suite is actually
• 2:18
  - in the same place that it was when
• 2:20
  - I worked here before. So when I walked
• 2:22
  - down the hallway my first day,
• 2:25
  - I actually walked past the
• 2:27
  - the room where my office was back in
• 2:30
  - the nineties. So it was kinda a surreal
• 2:32
  - experience
• 2:33
  - walking through these calls again.
• 2:36
  - That's awesome. Yeah. And it shows good, tenure
• 2:38
  - there as well. So that's awesome to hear.
• 2:41
  - Well... So, you know,
• 2:42
  - just to kind of piggyback off of that,
• 2:44
  - as you said, you've been there for a
• 2:46
  - little over a year now at UChicago Medicine.
• 2:48
  - You've been back.
• 2:50
  - And, I would just love to hear the
• 2:51
  - top priorities that you've had at the system
• 2:53
  - in your first three hundred sixty five days
• 2:56
  - and and how you kind of achieved these
• 2:57
  - goals.
• 2:58
  - Yeah. You know, for me, the the first
• 3:01
  - year has been
• 3:03
  - a lot about
• 3:04
  - watching and getting to know the organization, but
• 3:06
  - it's really been,
• 3:08
  - focused primarily
• 3:10
  - on sort of nuts and bolts,
• 3:12
  - issues around operational performance,
• 3:16
  - strengthening,
• 3:17
  - the core
• 3:19
  - initiatives
• 3:20
  - for the finance team, you know, our forecasting,
• 3:23
  - capital planning,
• 3:25
  - our ability to work with operations,
• 3:28
  - and then a lot
• 3:30
  - of activities
• 3:32
  - focused around how we,
• 3:35
  - monetize a lot of the growth that we're
• 3:37
  - putting in place. We're doing a lot of,
• 3:39
  - growth off campus,
• 3:42
  - clinics,
• 3:43
  - ASCs, and and the like. And so how
• 3:46
  - do we make sure that those assets
• 3:48
  - continue to grow, and we
• 3:50
  - are putting them in
• 3:52
  - in profitable areas and making sure that they
• 3:55
  - are generating the expected returns that,
• 3:58
  - we plan for.
• 4:00
  - A lot of that has been what I've
• 4:02
  - been focused on in this first year as
• 4:04
  - well as starting to look at
• 4:06
  - where we're going in the next ten years.
• 4:09
  - You know, as a lot of our growth
• 4:13
  - is not on this campus, but out in
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  - other markets,
• 4:17
  - what do we need to do as an
• 4:18
  - institution
• 4:19
  - to be ready for that growth?
• 4:22
  - You know, what do we need to do
• 4:24
  - in terms of our cash management, in terms
• 4:26
  - of our capital planning,
• 4:28
  - and how we work with the university
• 4:31
  - to be prepared for that that future planning?
• 4:34
  - Yeah. And you said it in the beginning,
• 4:36
  - you know, seven hospital system.
• 4:38
  - Any any plans for future acquisitions on the
• 4:41
  - horizons in terms of hospitals or or building
• 4:43
  - any additional hospitals?
• 4:45
  - Yeah. You never know. I mean, there's there's
• 4:47
  - always acquisition
• 4:48
  - opportunities. And as we continue to grow our
• 4:50
  - footprint,
• 4:53
  - mostly in Northwest Indiana,
• 4:55
  - there's always gonna be the opportunity
• 4:58
  - for us to
• 4:59
  - continue to grow.
• 5:01
  - And and we don't... We only have one
• 5:03
  - small micro hospital in that area. So that
• 5:07
  - is another space that we know,
• 5:10
  - especially from a growth standpoint,
• 5:13
  - population growth standpoint, that's an area that we
• 5:17
  - continue to wanna have,
• 5:19
  - opportunities to grow. So hospital acquisition may be
• 5:23
  - something that we look at into the future.
• 5:25
  - Yeah. Something something potentially in the future timeline.
• 5:28
  - Love to hear that.
• 5:30
  - And, again, you know, right now in the
• 5:31
  - in the health care industry, we're seeing so
• 5:34
  - many changes. The industry is always ebbing and
• 5:36
  - flowing, especially it's changed since probably you were
• 5:39
  - back at UChicago Medicine in the nineties. So
• 5:41
  - what would you say is a health care
• 5:43
  - finance
• 5:44
  - or operational trend that you're keeping a a
• 5:46
  - close eye on, just in terms of your
• 5:48
  - long term strategy?
• 5:49
  - Yeah. There's probably three big things that I'm
• 5:53
  - primarily focused on. The first one,
• 5:56
  - which I think, you know, all CFOs are
• 5:57
  - focused on right now is,
• 6:00
  - state and federal
• 6:01
  - legislative actions, you know, the... What's going on
• 6:05
  - in and around
• 6:06
  - the activities in the OBBA and
• 6:09
  - and how HR one is affecting us. You
• 6:12
  - know, we are the largest Medicaid provider in
• 6:14
  - the state of Illinois, so
• 6:16
  - any and all actions,
• 6:19
  - that come out of that legislative,
• 6:22
  - agenda,
• 6:23
  - especially
• 6:25
  - what's gonna happen at the turn of the
• 6:27
  - calendar year,
• 6:29
  - are things that we have been focused on,
• 6:31
  - not only from a planning standpoint, both operationally
• 6:34
  - and financially, but
• 6:36
  - making sure that our patients,
• 6:39
  - are prepared
• 6:40
  - and we can,
• 6:42
  - help them through any changes that they may,
• 6:46
  - encounter
• 6:47
  - by these actions. So,
• 6:50
  - those things are really impactful to us. You
• 6:53
  - know, being on the South Side Of Chicago
• 6:56
  - in this community, we feel part of it...
• 6:58
  - Being part of this community, and we're not
• 7:01
  - just here to be here. We're here as
• 7:03
  - part of the community. And so
• 7:05
  - when
• 7:06
  - major changes like this happen, we feel it's
• 7:09
  - just as much as the community feel it.
• 7:11
  - So this is... That's a big one for
• 7:12
  - us.
• 7:13
  - I think the next one, again, I think
• 7:15
  - all all CFOs are feeling this one. The
• 7:18
  - payer
• 7:19
  - behavior,
• 7:21
  - is,
• 7:22
  - very
• 7:23
  - active right now.
• 7:25
  - I think that's probably the nicest way I
• 7:27
  - can put it.
• 7:29
  - And so we have been in this this
• 7:32
  - prior fiscal year doing
• 7:34
  - a a pretty major
• 7:36
  - overhaul and,
• 7:38
  - modernization
• 7:39
  - of our revenue cycle
• 7:41
  - processes and procedures
• 7:44
  - throughout the organization, not just within the the
• 7:47
  - revenue cycle team,
• 7:49
  - to try to really,
• 7:52
  - combat any of the activities
• 7:54
  - that the payers are placing upon us, whether
• 7:57
  - it's,
• 7:58
  - you know, contractual
• 8:00
  - issues, denials,
• 8:02
  - across prior auths. But, you know, all of
• 8:05
  - those activities
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  - really
• 8:07
  - not only drive
• 8:09
  - increased
• 8:12
  - payment cycles, but also just
• 8:14
  - increase the cost of of health care
• 8:17
  - by forcing all of us to to apply
• 8:20
  - more
• 8:21
  - expense just to collect the same dollar that
• 8:23
  - we used to yesterday.
• 8:25
  - And then the last big one, I think,
• 8:27
  - which is something that we're all focused on
• 8:29
  - is how does AI change the future of
• 8:32
  - health care,
• 8:34
  - in all spaces. I know we are
• 8:37
  - looking at it. We're about to open,
• 8:40
  - an $800,000,000
• 8:41
  - cancer center in about six months, and
• 8:46
  - this building is gonna be,
• 8:48
  - one of the most
• 8:50
  - operationally,
• 8:53
  - clinically,
• 8:54
  - and innovative buildings,
• 8:56
  - in the world. And there will be,
• 8:59
  - a multitude
• 9:01
  - of artificial intelligence
• 9:04
  - activities happening in this building.
• 9:06
  - But we also have to think about,
• 9:09
  - you know, how do we govern ourselves around
• 9:11
  - AI? How do we... When is it right
• 9:13
  - to use and not use? How do we
• 9:15
  - how do we have that activity be patient
• 9:19
  - friendly? How do we have it,
• 9:22
  - so patients understand when we're using it and
• 9:25
  - give them the option to use or not
• 9:28
  - to use? And then how do we
• 9:30
  - bring it into our everyday
• 9:32
  - work environment,
• 9:33
  - to make us more efficient,
• 9:36
  - while still
• 9:37
  - making sure that
• 9:39
  - we're using our own intelligence,
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  - and not
• 9:44
  - only allowing,
• 9:45
  - artificial intelligence
• 9:47
  - to to do the work. So lots lots
• 9:50
  - around that area to Yeah. Be...
• 9:54
  - Figure it out.
• 9:55
  - It's such a fine line with with AI
• 9:57
  - right now. It's definitely a hot topic for
• 9:59
  - a lot of executives like yourself, but a
• 10:01
  - lot of people have questions around it, you
• 10:03
  - know, like, which one do we invest in
• 10:05
  - and and, how are we going to be
• 10:08
  - investing and what are the results like? So
• 10:10
  - how do you kind of, you know, pick
• 10:12
  - and choose, I guess, when it comes to
• 10:13
  - AI? What what do you want to invest
• 10:15
  - in?
• 10:17
  - We have stood up a a few committees.
• 10:20
  - We we have an intake... An AI intake
• 10:22
  - committee,
• 10:23
  - that is,
• 10:25
  - cross functional
• 10:26
  - across the organization that we really evaluate any
• 10:29
  - new,
• 10:31
  - opportunities that are brought to us. You know,
• 10:33
  - our
• 10:34
  - CIO and I probably get, I don't know,
• 10:37
  - half a dozen to a dozen
• 10:39
  - requests or
• 10:41
  - reach outs
• 10:42
  - from every... You know, companies that have the
• 10:45
  - next greatest,
• 10:47
  - invention. And so
• 10:49
  - we use this intake committee to really evaluate,
• 10:53
  - one, is this something that will help
• 10:57
  - better how we provide patient care, how we
• 11:00
  - do the business that we do?
• 11:02
  - Mhmm. Two, we have a governance,
• 11:05
  - committee that really looks at,
• 11:07
  - from the standpoint of who we are as
• 11:10
  - an institution. Does this
• 11:13
  - follow along with our principles, our value, our
• 11:16
  - mission,
• 11:17
  - and does it,
• 11:19
  - put us in any
• 11:21
  - place where where we have to say, you
• 11:23
  - know, this isn't who we are as an
• 11:25
  - institution.
• 11:26
  - And then we're in the midst of really
• 11:28
  - working with our board,
• 11:30
  - to look at how does the board
• 11:32
  - have a seat in governance
• 11:35
  - around AI
• 11:36
  - for the health system. What position do they
• 11:39
  - play,
• 11:40
  - in helping us look at the future of
• 11:42
  - how we use AI?
• 11:44
  - Yeah. So it's kind of an all hands
• 11:46
  - on deck deal. Yep. Yep.
• 11:48
  - I guess... And you kinda touched on this
• 11:49
  - a little bit. But when you think about
• 11:51
  - the future at UChicago Medicine
• 11:53
  - and the systems long range vision, what would
• 11:56
  - you say you're most excited about right now?
• 11:59
  - Yeah. I think,
• 12:01
  - you know, when I think about
• 12:04
  - the next however many years that I'll be
• 12:06
  - here,
• 12:07
  - I think the thing that excites me every
• 12:09
  - day about being here is the... Besides the
• 12:13
  - people that I work with, it's the opportunity,
• 12:16
  - that this health system brings to not only
• 12:19
  - the community,
• 12:20
  - but... Or the greater Chicago area, but, you
• 12:23
  - know, the the nation and the world at
• 12:25
  - large. We have some
• 12:27
  - of the most innovative faculty,
• 12:30
  - of any place that I've ever been.
• 12:32
  - I think, you know, the way this institution
• 12:37
  - embodies
• 12:38
  - the community that it works within and the
• 12:40
  - way it really reaches out to the community
• 12:44
  - and wants to be part of the community
• 12:46
  - is pretty special.
• 12:48
  - You know, we're in a... An area that,
• 12:51
  - you know, other health systems
• 12:53
  - that I've been attached to don't
• 12:56
  - treat themselves as part of the community. They
• 12:58
  - sort of stand as an island in a
• 13:00
  - community like this, but,
• 13:02
  - Chicago
• 13:03
  - really
• 13:04
  - participates in the community, and that... That's pretty
• 13:07
  - special. So I think
• 13:09
  - being part of something like that makes coming
• 13:12
  - to work even more exciting.
• 13:14
  - Yeah. But I think what's what's exciting from
• 13:16
  - a a CFO seat standpoint is
• 13:20
  - how, the finance team plays
• 13:23
  - a greater role in
• 13:25
  - the growth and development of this health system.
• 13:28
  - Mhmm. I think we have a role to
• 13:31
  - to continue to help provide
• 13:36
  - accountability and transparency
• 13:37
  - of information,
• 13:39
  - you know, not just be
• 13:42
  - data pushers.
• 13:43
  - I've never been known as a CFO, no,
• 13:46
  - in my career, and so I I help
• 13:48
  - the rest of the finance team really
• 13:52
  - look at how we can
• 13:54
  - be more collaborative
• 13:56
  - in how we work with our
• 13:59
  - colleagues and how we can
• 14:01
  - really
• 14:02
  - be more innovative,
• 14:05
  - finance leaders and not just,
• 14:07
  - you know, data engineers and not just numbers
• 14:10
  - people, but be be innovative in how we
• 14:14
  - use information and also be planners,
• 14:18
  - and thinkers with people and help solve problems.
• 14:21
  - And so that's what really excites me about
• 14:24
  - what we can do as a finance team
• 14:26
  - going forward.
• 14:27
  - Yeah. The the financial stewards of the organization.
• 14:31
  - Love it.
• 14:32
  - So final question for you here. We obviously
• 14:34
  - touched about some of the industry uncertainty, but
• 14:36
  - for other financial leaders who are also kind
• 14:39
  - of navigate...
• 14:40
  - Navigating these unknowns, what advice do you have
• 14:42
  - to offer them just about building these resilient
• 14:45
  - teams you've talked about or preparing for system
• 14:47
  - futures?
• 14:48
  - Yeah. I think, you know, what's
• 14:51
  - important
• 14:52
  - to me and and, you know, my first...
• 14:55
  - I don't know. I think it was the
• 14:56
  - first couple of months I was here. I
• 14:57
  - actually did a retreat
• 14:59
  - with my team,
• 15:01
  - One, to get to know the team and
• 15:03
  - for them to get to know me, but
• 15:05
  - two,
• 15:05
  - to also
• 15:07
  - have the team come up with
• 15:09
  - a mission statement and a vision
• 15:12
  - for who the finance division was gonna be.
• 15:15
  - I think it's really important
• 15:17
  - for a finance
• 15:19
  - team to
• 15:20
  - to really look at themselves as a team,
• 15:23
  - a leadership team that
• 15:25
  - delivers
• 15:26
  - first on how
• 15:28
  - we treat the rest of the finance division.
• 15:31
  - So
• 15:32
  - I think what's important is, you know, us
• 15:35
  - looking at who
• 15:37
  - our leaders are and how we continue to
• 15:39
  - grow them as leaders,
• 15:42
  - for us to look at where there are
• 15:44
  - opportunities
• 15:45
  - within the division,
• 15:47
  - for creating succession
• 15:48
  - planning
• 15:49
  - Mhmm. Where there are opportunities
• 15:52
  - to create,
• 15:53
  - training platforms,
• 15:55
  - and then really look at where the opportunities
• 16:00
  - within the group,
• 16:02
  - for us to help
• 16:05
  - leaders or,
• 16:07
  - individual workers who may not be in the
• 16:09
  - right seats to move to a seat that
• 16:12
  - better
• 16:13
  - suits them. And, you know, sometimes it works
• 16:15
  - and sometimes it doesn't, but I think as
• 16:17
  - a leader, it's always
• 16:19
  - our job to try to invest
• 16:22
  - everything that we can into
• 16:24
  - helping those who work for us
• 16:27
  - be the best that they can be and
• 16:28
  - work at the top of their license whenever
• 16:30
  - possible. So
• 16:32
  - I focus a lot of my attention on
• 16:34
  - making sure that the group that I work
• 16:36
  - with focuses on that because I think a
• 16:39
  - strong
• 16:41
  - finance leadership team creates a strong finance division,
• 16:44
  - which helps us create a strong
• 16:46
  - financial,
• 16:47
  - organization
• 16:48
  - and create strong underpinnings for the entire organization.
• 16:52
  - Yeah. Good building blocks there. Some great advice,
• 16:55
  - Chris. I really appreciate you sharing. I'm sure
• 16:57
  - others will definitely resonate with that. So, again,
• 17:00
  - thank you so much for joining us. I
• 17:02
  - know you've been there,
• 17:03
  - little over a year now, but, again, congratulations
• 17:05
  - on your role. It's been such a pleasure
• 17:07
  - speaking with you and excited to connect again
• 17:09
  - soon.
• 17:10
  - Thanks. I really appreciate the time.
• 17:12
  - Thank you.
• 17:13
  - When it comes to today's RCM, we know
• 17:16
  - the challenges,
• 17:17
  - complexity of claims, talent shortages,
• 17:19
  - low funding, and lagging tech.
• 17:22
  - That's why we built MedMetrix.
• 17:24
  - We have the expertise and advanced tech to
• 17:27
  - give you that edge on your revenue cycle.
• 17:29
  - We're a partner who will relentlessly raise your
• 17:31
  - yield, a partner who's on your side because
• 17:34
  - they've been operator side, who knows your battles
• 17:37
  - and will make sure you win from start
• 17:39
  - to finish, end to end. MedMetrix,
• 17:42
  - be exceptional.