Bend (Ore.) Memorial Clinic, a 120-provider group, has hired New Providence, N.J.-based Summit Health Management, a provider of physician group practice management services, reports The Bulletin.
By bringing in Summit, BMC hopes to improve financially. Among Summit's tasks will be responsibility over some BMC operations and to help identify cost-savings opportunities in areas such as billing, payer contracting, health IT and employee productivity, according to the report. Physicians will continue to own BMC, and no layoffs are expected.
News about the hiring comes as BMC has struggled financially, partially due to the expensive implementation of its Epic EHR system two years ago, according to the report. A final agreement between both parties is expected later this fall.