Dear Friends of Shriners Hospital for Children – Spokane,

I am in on a Sunday getting ready for a most important business trip. Tomorrow I fly to Tampa to attend a meeting of the Revenue Cycle Committee. On Tuesday our committee will interview four companies and determine which company will be awarded the third party pay revenue cycle contract. This is a huge milestone for our system!

In only a few brief months from the historic vote in San Antonio, Texas to authorize billing and collecting insurance we are at the point of selecting a business partner to make it happen. Twelve companies submitted proposals. Four have been invited to make presentations to our committee. I can tell you they all submitted great proposals, are superior firms and will be great partners. It will be interesting to see which firm gets the work.

While billing and collecting insurance will not solve all of our financial problems, the new revenue stream that will result will surely help relieve some of the pressure. I am encouraged that our leadership moved out so aggressively to get third party pay up and running. Next time I write I will be able to tell you who we selected, much more about the company itself and how they plan to help us implement this program.

I want to thank you all for your continued support of our hospital. Applications are up, patient referrals are up and so are non-memorial cash donations. We are as busy as we have ever been and hiring new staff! We recently celebrated or 85th anniversary. It was a fantastic affair planned, organized and executed by Sally Mildren and Kristin Monasmith in Public Relations. We raised nearly $20,000 dollars that evening for our hospital! Former patients returned and told their stories about how Shriners helped them. It was a wonderful evening made all the better by the knowledge that Shriners will have a presence in Spokane for a long time to come.

Again, thank you for all you do on behalf of the children!

Sincerely,

Gene Raynaud, FACHE
Administrator