Case Study
Duke Relies on Arbor To Quickly and
Accurately Resolve Credit Balances
Several years ago, Duke University Health System decided to try out Arbor Healthcare. In fact, Arbor replaced a company that Duke dismissed because of quality problems and administrative issues that actually increased the workload of the health system’s employees instead of lightening it.
Since then, Arbor Healthcare has proven instrumental in helping Duke reach and maintain its goal of returning overpayments to health plans within 45 days. “Arbor is critical to meeting our goal,” says Scott Hawig, the health system’s revenue cycle divisional chief financial officer. “We couldn’t hit our metrics today without the number of credits they resolve.”
Since bringing in Arbor to one of its community hospitals, Duke has steadily expanded Arbor’s responsibility for resolving credit balances to all three of its hospitals as well as its medical group. As a result, Arbor has increased its team at Duke to six on-site analysts.
Like Duke’s 25 employees who resolve credit balances, Arbor field analysts aim to complete 30 credit balance accounts a day. The company also consistently scores highly on Duke’s regular quality reviews, Hawig says.
What’s more, Arbor consistently goes the extra mile, he says: “Others may just work the credit balance to obtain refunds for their client. Arbor resolves the whole account, including reviewing for any patient liability or adjustment issues, instead of leaving it to us to complete.”
Scott Hawig
Divisional Chief Financial Officer, PRMO
Duke University Health System
