Optum, Inc. will soon be signing the paychecks of 835 of ProHealth Care workers following the transfer the mostly administrative staffers to the employment of the Minneapolis-based health care services company.
The employees, who manage ProHealth’s revenue cycle management, information technology, informatics, analytics, and inpatient care management, will work for Optum, but retain their current positions, continuing to support ProHealth Care and its hospitals and clinics.
In a WARN notice issued on Tuesday, ProHealth Care states that the staffing transition, which it describes as a restructuring to remove “certain operational lines” is being done in an “effort to project the longevity of organization.” The employees will officially be separating from ProHealth Care on Jan. 27, the notice states.
Headquartered in the city of Pewaukee, The ProHealth has more than 5,000 employees and owns and operates ProHealth Waukesha Memorial Hospital, ProHealth Waukesha Memorial Hospital-Mukwonago, ProHealth Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital, ProHealth Rehabilitation Hospital of Wisconsin, ProHealth Medical Group, the UW Health Cancer Center at ProHealth Care, Moreland Surgery Center, ProHealth AngelsGrace Hospice, ProHealth Home Care, ProHealth West Wood Health & Fitness Center, and ProHealth Regency Senior, as well as several other out-patient clinics in Waukesha County.
For its 2023 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, ProHealth Care saw essentially flat net patient service revenue at $871 million and overall revenues were down around 1% at $958 million.
Total expenses did increase about 1.15% to $937 million behind higher expense for medical supplies and drugs and increased depreciation. The increased expense translated to an operating margin of 2.2%, down from 4% in fiscal 2022.
At the bottom line, the health system saw its revenue and gains in excess of expenses swing from $99.8 million in the hole in 2022 to $112 million in excess this year. The shift was largely driven by a shift from a $169 million unrealized loss on investments last year to a $74 million unrealized investment gain this year.
The system’s balance sheet has also trended in a positive direction with total assets growing to $2.05 billion after dipping in fiscal 2022. Total liabilities also continued a downward trend over the past three years from $664 million in fiscal 2020 to $622 million this year.
A subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group since 2011, Optum, Inc. is an information and technology-enabled health services business with more than 310,000 employees.
Susan Edwards, chief executive officer at ProHealth Care said the partnership with Optum will strengthen the health care network’s administrative functions as it continues its growth as an independent, community-based health system.
“ProHealth Care has a long history of building strong strategic partnerships to accelerate our progress and better meet the needs of our patients,” Edwards added.
Chris Pass, president of market performance partnerships for Optum, said the company looks forward to working with ProHealth Care to implement technology solutions that will simplify patient and provider experiences and support administrators, “all with the aim of ensuring ongoing, high-quality care.”
