Health systems lean into outsourcing to cut costs
ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES — Indiana University Health and UnityPoint Health are among the United States health systems turning to outside revenue cycle management (RCM) partners in 2026, as margin pressure from Medicaid cuts, rising labor costs, and staffing shortages strains in-house billing and administrative operations.
IU Health, UnityPoint choose RCM partners
Indiana University (IU) Health, Indianapolis’s leading academic health system, entered a revenue cycle partnership with Ensemble Health Partners on June 9, ahead of a planned Epic electronic health record (EHR) transition.
Ensemble will deliver end-to-end performance across patient access, coding, claims management, denial prevention, and accounts receivable, according to Becker’s Hospital Review.
“Strategic partnerships like this are critical to strengthening our ability to manage that complexity while continuing to deliver strong financial stewardship,” said Jenni Alvey, chief financial officer at IU Health.
Judson Ivy, founder and chief executive officer of Ensemble, said the collaboration is built for scale. “We’re proud to partner with IU Health through an operating model built for consistency, modernization and long-term resilience,” Ivy said.
The partnership incorporates artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled workflow tools and advanced analytics, targeting stronger billing performance and a more consistent patient financial experience.
Outsourcing now standard across RCM functions
West Des Moines-based UnityPoint Health announced in April it would transition some revenue cycle functions to Omega Healthcare, citing “ongoing industry pressures, including rising labor, supply, and drug costs.” Omega Healthcare operates delivery centers across the U.S., India, Colombia, and the Philippines.
Scott Kizer, president and chief executive officer at UnityPoint Health, said the decision carried a human cost.
“These decisions are incredibly difficult because they affect valued members of our team who have contributed meaningfully to our mission. We are committed to supporting our team members while positioning our organization to continue serving our communities for years to come,” Kizer said.
The 2026 Revenue Cycle Trends report from Guidehouse and the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) found that 67% of health systems already outsource accounts receivable (AR) follow-up and collections, with coding at 50% and denials management at 39%.
The combination of thin Medicare payment updates, rising labor costs, and the capital demands of digital transformation is accelerating the shift toward managed business process outsourcing (BPO) arrangements in hospital finance departments.
Health systems evaluating these models can benchmark providers through the top healthcare outsourcing companies in the United States. As AI platforms reshape revenue cycle economics, the specialist case for external vendors continues to strengthen.
Related news
- More than two-thirds of health systems outsource AR, collections · 29 Aug
- Hospital CEO blames labor, drugs for rising U.S. healthcare costs · 5 May
- U.S. hospitals face thin 2.3% raise as costs climb · 7 Aug
Disclosure: Outsource Accelerator uses AI tools in the backend of its editorial workflow. Every article is reviewed and verified by a human editor before publication.
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