Outsource? Dropping? What is Accretive's Next Move With its Consumer Debt Collection Arm?

Even after Utah came to its defense, and after Rahm Emanuel announced his support, (“Was no one else available?” — imagined quote from the Accretive offices), the embattled revenue cycle management firm is allegedly considering considering dropping — or possibly outsourcing — its debt collection arm.

“We have taken a look at: Can we get the same value by bringing the technology insights to the process but actually having a third-party debt collector actually do that process?” CEO Mary Tolan told a group of analysts during a conference call, discussing the company’s first-quarter financial results. “It is a viable strategic option we will be looking at in the weeks to come.”

On the call, Ms Tolan revealed that debt collection only accounts for about 5 percent of Accretive’s revenue. This is considerably lower, but still technically within, an earlier, “less than 10 percent” estimate previously disclosed by the company.

With that in mind, if Accretive were to drop its consumer debt collection component, it’s likely to have very little impact on Accretive’s margins.

Attacking Accretive had become the pet project of Minnesota Aattorney General Lori Swanson, who had released a damning report regarding Accretive’s relationship with a Minnesota hospital. Among many allegations, the worst might have been that Accretive used aggressive collection practices, including the placement of debt collectors in emergency rooms.

Accretive has continued to aggressively deny Swanson’s posturing of the issue.