Posted Monday, June 22, 2009 --- 8:40 a.m.

Press Release:

MADISON, WI – The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) North Central Consolidated Patient Account Center (CPAC), located in the Madison, Wisconsin area, will create approximately 200 new full-time jobs within the local economy once fully operational in mid-2010.

The North Central CPAC is part of an initiative underway within the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve billing and collections activities throughout its network of 153 medical centers and more than 1,400 sites of care across the United States. It will provide traditional hospital business office functions for all VA treatment locations within Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs) 10, 11 and 12, which spans as far east as Cleveland, Ohio, to as far west as Tomah, Wisconsin.

Madison was selected over other locations within the region based upon a review of several criteria including: cost and availability of commercial real estate, construction costs, quality of life, cost of living, local labor market conditions and the ability to recruit professional and technical staff. The selected site will undergo renovations to create a state-of-the-art facility tailored for the business office. The renovation project is tentatively scheduled to begin this fall and will be completed in late summer 2010. “We believe the Madison, Wisconsin area, is the optimal choice for hosting the North Central CPAC in support of the continued expansion of the CPAC program,” said Gary Baker, VHA’s Chief Business Officer. “The CPAC program has a proven track record in improving the revenue program within VHA. The North Central CPAC expansion will allow us to continue improving our business performance and, ultimately, enhance the services provided to our Nation’s veterans.”

CPAC is an industry-modeled approach that regionalizes billing and collection activities under a centralized span of control and incorporates the utilization of industry best practices, intensive training and staff development and extensive use of metrics to measure performance. The CPAC program was started in 2006 with the creation of the Mid-Atlantic CPAC (MACPAC) in Asheville, N.C. The pilot project continues to be a resounding success – leading to an 18% rise in third party collections and setting the benchmark for revenue operations throughout VHA within two (2) years of its inception.

Due to the success of the MACPAC pilot project and pursuant to Public Law 110-387, VHA plans to implement a total of seven (7) CPACs across the nation by the end of Fiscal Year 2011.