Maine-based Northern Light Health, which has 10 hospitals, is outsourcing revenue cycle management, information systems, inpatient care management, analytics, project management office and supply chain management to Optum.
Northern Light Health has 987 licensed beds, a single physician-led medical group, eight nursing homes with 585 long-term beds, five emergency transport members, 37 primary care locations, and more than 12,000 people in Maine.
Approximately 1,400 of those Northern Light Health employees will become employees of Optum beginning in March 2023, becoming part of the Optum workforce of 220,000 people.
Optum said these employees will have access to more state-of-the-art tools, technologies, processes, skills development training opportunities and new opportunities for advancement.
Northern Light Health and Optum said they would work together to improve business processes through investment in leading-edge technology and innovation. This will enable Northern Light Health to access new tools and more resources that ultimately will enhance the patient experience and enable providers to focus on patient care.
“Optum and Northern Light Health are both values driven and people and community focused,” said Timothy Dentry, president and CEO of Northern Light Health, in a statement. “Optum brings innovation and expertise to a broad range of support services that will help us manage some operational functions so we can focus on what we do best – care for the people of Maine.”
Together, Northern Light Health and Optum said they would:
- Improve the scheduling and billing experience for patients and providers.
- Advance digital capabilities to improve the patient and provider experience.
- Leverage new technology and tools to ensure patients are getting the right care, at the right time, and in the right place.
- Use data and analytics to anticipate and respond directly to patient, community and staff needs.
“We are privileged to partner with Northern Light Health and build on their success by helping to transform the health care experience for patients, providers and communities across Maine,” said Dan Schumacher, chief strategy and growth officer of UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of Optum, in a statement.
In December, Northern Light also announced a strategic laboratory collaboration with Quest Diagnostics, a national provider of diagnostic information services. Under the agreement, Quest will acquire select assets of Northern Light Health’s outreach lab services business, Northern Light Laboratory. Quest will also provide professional lab management services for nine Northern Light Health member hospitals and Northern Light Cancer Care in Brewer.
