Philip Boyce, Senior Vice President & Chief Revenue Officer at Baptist Health, will be presenting at Q1’s Semi-Annual Healthcare Financial Forum & Revenue Cycle Management Forum in Houston this June. Learn from Philip’s expertise at the forums’ keynote panel discussion “Revenue Cycle Management Challenges in 2019 and Beyond” and session “Aligning Goals of Payers and Providers to Secure Revenue” or read below for more on his background and experience.

 

How has your career path led you to your current position?

My career path has had many twists and turns with wonderful mentors along the way. After college, I played professional football for part of two seasons, and then taught/coached high school for two years. I left teaching/coaching to attend a seminary to prepare for a career as a missionary in a Third World country. My major in Inter-Cultural Communications was my preparation to work effectively in a cross-cultural setting. However, upon graduation, I knew that this was not the path for me.

Falling back on my undergraduate major of Business Administration, I landed my first ‘business job’ (approaching age 30) as a “temp” for one-month at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida tearing apart old computers! This turned into a full-time job repairing billing computers in physician offices and hospitals, plus training office staff. Healthcare was new to me and I got hooked. I progressed in IT, but realized after a few years that it was not for me. A position came open in the Real Estate Department negotiating leases for remote offices. The business experience I gained negotiating contracts, working with legal on contract language and working with executives at various offices was invaluable.

After a couple of years, this experience helped me land a job negotiating Managed Care contracts with hospitals. This job was the business of healthcare in a cross-cultural context (Managed Care!), and I love it. After a few years, I became Director of Network Development, but a year later switched sides by taking a job with Baptist Health System as their Vice President of Managed Care. Starting my 24th year with Baptist, I’ve had career growth opportunities that now include the responsibility for our entire revenue cycle. Looking back, I can see that toughness from sports, the value of faith and understanding communication principles have helped me advance in my healthcare career.

 

Can you please give a brief description of your job title and what that entails?

Our system has five hospitals, freestanding EDs, a large MD Anderson oncology affiliation and hundreds of employed physicians. As SVP & Chief Revenue Officer, I’m responsible for Managed Care, UR, Coding, CDI, PFS, PAS, Revenue Integrity, Denials/Appeals and some physician CBOs. We have two separate revenue cycles in our system (MD Anderson hospital-based practice and the “all other” revenue cycle) and I’m responsible for both.

 

What are you focusing on now in the Healthcare Finance industry?

It is exciting to see Managed Care, Payment Integrity, PFS, PAS, UR, Denials/Appeals, CDI and Coding all work together to improve internal processes and coordinate how we work with health plans. We are focused on a level playing field with the payers and pursuing excellence internally. Striving for excellence in leadership, processes and tools while adapting to changes in healthcare is our focus.

 

Is there anything that excites you about the future of the industry?

I’m excited about the possibilities of technology, such as AI and machine learning, to improve quality and reduce costs. I’m also excited about possibilities for finally achieving clinical and financial alignment on the provider side (risk bearing). Healthcare was in crises when I started in the early 80s, which meant to me that there were a lot of opportunities. Healthcare is in greater crises all these years later, and that is concerning to me, but it also means that there are more opportunities than ever before.

 

Why do you think Healthcare financial professionals should attend a Q1 forum?

Attending a Q1 forum is valuable because you will meet peers from across the country that are struggling with the same issues, have found solutions or can possibly assist you. You will also meet vendors who turn out to be valuable educators, industry friends and, with a few, contracted partners.

Allison McIlvain is a Content Marketing Associate for Q1 Productions, where she is responsible for campaign planning, content development and executing marketing projects for the life sciences, pharmaceutical and food and beverage industries.