How are healthcare organizations recruiting leaders in a space that has been recently turned on its head?
The Affordable Care Act has swept healthcare into a new era, in which increased access to care has made traditional reimbursement models unsustainable. The incredible growth happening in the revenue cycle job market is testament to healthcare's acute need for vocal, visible and engaged revenue cycle leaders — and a staffing firm in Chicago is helping healthcare companies find it.
John Reid, managing director of sales with LaSalle Network, spoke with Becker's Hospital Review about how LaSalle is helping healthcare organizations broker new conversations around leadership in the revenue cycle space.
"The revenue cycle today is fundamentally different from the revenue cycle of four years ago," says Mr. Reid, "but as the world around these leaders has changed, the thought process around hiring, finding and developing new talent has not."
LaSalle approaches revenue cycle recruiting with a criteria that preferences creativity over tradition and exposure over specificity. "In many cases, we try to identify talent with a comprehensive understanding of revenue cycle functions, rather than an individual who has zero-ed in on a particular specialty," says Mr. Reid. By hiring someone with an isolated skill set to address problems in a complicated and composite system, LaSalle believes hospitals may unwittingly decrease opportunities for innovation and creative problem solving.
And when it comes to selecting talent for RCM leadership roles, LaSalle encourages healthcare clients to potentially look outside of the healthcare box. "Rather than recruiting revenue cycle veterans with years of industry experience, we are asking our healthcare clients to consider those who may seem like non-traditional talent," says Mr. Reid. This may include financial leaders or administrative experts with proven success in innovation outside of the healthcare industry who can bring fresh insights to bare on the challenges in RCM.
As comprehensive revenue cycle education and fellowship programs become more popular, LaSalle also encourages healthcare companies to consider taking on and developing younger talent.
Since first entering the revenue cycle space, LaSalle has expanded their client base to include health systems, medical billing companies, third-party RCM vendors and healthcare clinics. LaSalle currently serves four major healthcare systems in Chicago, and anticipates their RCM staffing arm to grow by another 35 percent this year, says Mr. Reid.
Largely in support of their revenue cycle staffing arm, LaSalle will launch a new office in Denver. "Denver is a robust city for healthcare companies, and we look forward to expanding our footprint into new markets," Mr. Reid says.