Newport Credentialing Solutions
An Integrated Approach for Healthcare Provider Data Management

The healthcare industry is undergoing a tremendous change as hospital closures and M&A activity continue to shake up the industry. Hospitals are closing at a rate of about 30 a year according to the American Hospital Association. Meanwhile, M&A activity reached a record $156 billion in the first quarter of 2018 according to data compiled by Bloomberg. And while the third quarter saw a modest slowdown in M&A activity, analysis released by Kaufman, Hall & Associates, LLC., cites total revenue transacted through the third quarter of 2018 was still an impressive $10.7 billion.

Continuing uncertainty within the healthcare space has hospitals and health systems seeking new ways to generate revenue. According to Scott Friesen, CEO of Newport Credentialing Solutions, getting and keeping physicians and surgeons billing will help to stabilize margins.

“On average, a physician/surgeon generates $1.56 million annually for their affiliated hospitals. If a physician isn’t billing to their fullest potential, serious revenue may be lost,” says Friesen.“Newport offers an integrated approach for managing the physician contract and credentialing lifecycle, which is essential for eliminating the bottlenecks and oversights that commonly keep physicians from billing and getting paid.”

When contracts sit in limbo, credentialing and enrollment processes are delayed which means providers cannot bill. To eliminate unnecessary interruptions, Newport offers best-of-breed, cloud-based contract lifecycle and provider data management technology. Newport’s integrated provider data management platform was developed following the successful February 2018 merger with TractManager, a provider of strategic sourcing applications.

Newport’s automated contract lifecycle management technology accelerates contract creation and approvals by aggregating everyone involved in the process of reviewing, signing, extending, and renewing contracts into one workflow.

As a result, physician contracts are completed at an average of 31 days faster than when using a manual process. The contract lifecycle management technology provides direct visibility into expired/ expiring contracts as well as duplicate contracts. It also allows alerts to be set in advance of expiring contracts to ensure nothing is overlooked or missed.

Newport’s technology provides cross-team (contract and credentialing) access to provider data so everyone involved in getting a payor ready to bill can track where a contract is each step of the way. Automated alerts let the credentialing team know when contracts are complete so they can immediately begin working on privileging and then enrollment. Integration greatly reduces the timeframe it takes for all of this to happen in comparison to each process being separate and disconnected.

By integrating credentialing and provider enrollment data into a single system, Newport is able to automate the workflow of the entire credentialing lifecycle. Newport’s technology manages each provider through the process of primary source verification, privileging, and provider enrollment, as well as maintaining PAR status after the provider is enrolled. Once a provider’s participation in health plans is secured, and approval to bill the plan for services rendered is achieved, Newport’s technology tracks deadlines to ensure the provider remains properly enrolled at all times.

Newport is the only credentialing solution provider to offer a cloud-based, fully integrated contract lifecycle and provider data management system. The company has a stellar reputation among clients and works with them as long-term partners. Newport continues building upon its technology to further simplify the complex process of provider data management for hospitals and health systems. This includes the development of a primary source verification module for insurance companies. Newport’s new module will link all contracting healthcare providers and payers together in a single enterprise-wide platform. In doing so, Newport is seeking to eliminate provider data silos which enables healthcare systems to improve revenue, as well as physician and patient satisfaction.