Challenge
Before Athelas
Family First Medical Center wasn't trying to fix a broken revenue cycle. It was preparing for the future. For nearly two decades, the practice relied on experienced in-house billers who understood its workflows and patient population. But after almost 20 years with the organization, those team members were preparing to retire, leaving leadership with an important question: how do you maintain operational continuity for a growing practice without sacrificing financial performance?
Serving approximately 150 patients every day across 8 medical providers and 3 physical therapists, Family First needed a revenue cycle operation that could scale with its growth. Replacing decades of institutional knowledge wasn't simply about hiring new staff; it required a platform that could improve efficiency while providing greater operational visibility.
Denials had become one of the practice's biggest workflow challenges. The sheer volume of claims made it difficult for the billing team to investigate every denial, rebill claims quickly, and identify recurring issues before they impacted revenue. Leadership also needed better insight into reimbursement trends and financial performance to make informed business decisions. They were juggling it all:
- Disjointed systems for records, billing, and reporting with no integration between them
- Billing partner unresponsive to claim denials, leaving revenue stalled for months
- Clinicians spending five to seven hours per week on after-hours documentation
- Manual insurance verification and repeated billing follow-up consuming staff time
- Thin visibility into claim status, denial trends, and collections performance
- Inconsistent workflows across clinic locations
- No unified platform connecting clinical documentation to financial performance
The practice wasn't just preparing for a staffing transition. It was looking for a smarter, more scalable approach to revenue cycle management—one that could strengthen collections, reduce administrative burden, and support continued growth.
Solution
After Athelas
Family First Medical Center selected Athelas because it offered more than outsourced billing. The combination of AI-driven revenue cycle management, seamless integration with existing systems, and ongoing partnership gave leadership confidence that the practice could continue growing without disrupting operations.
Proactive denial management
Rather than allowing denied claims to accumulate, Athelas actively identifies, investigates, and resolves denials while helping the practice address the underlying causes. The result is a cleaner claims process, fewer preventable denials, and more consistent reimbursement performance.
Visibility into financial performance
One of the biggest improvements for Family First has been access to actionable operational data. Through Claims Detail, Patient Responsibility, and Remittance Tie-Out reporting, leadership can quickly evaluate reimbursement trends, analyze CPT code performance, and identify opportunities to improve payer reimbursement. Instead of waiting for month-end reports, the team has real-time visibility into the health of its revenue cycle.
A better patient payment experience
Family First also modernized its patient payment process through Athelas Insights. Patients can securely make payments online, enroll in payment plans, and utilize financing options such as Affirm, making it easier for patients to pay while reducing administrative work for office staff.
A collaborative partnership
Beyond technology, Athelas became an extension of the Family First team. Questions are addressed quickly through a dedicated account manager, and customer feedback regularly influences product enhancements. Rather than simply responding to support tickets, Athelas continuously improves the platform based on customer needs.
Result
Key Improvements
Family First Medical Center transformed its revenue cycle into a more efficient, data-driven operation while giving leadership greater confidence in both financial performance and operational decision-making.
- 26% higher insurance collections compared to the previous billing operation.
- 98% Total-to-Closed claim rate, outperforming the Athelas benchmark of 90%.
- 98% Closed-to-Submitted rate, ensuring claims progressed efficiently through the billing workflow.
- 97% first-pass claims acceptance rate, reducing rework and accelerating reimbursement.
- Less than 2% denial rate, significantly improving claim quality.
- Claims submitted in an average of 6 days from Date of Service, 4 days faster than the Athelas benchmark.
- $63,175 recovered through denial and rejection management during the review period.
- 99% patient responsibility notification rate, improving patient communication and payment readiness.
- Reduced credit card processing fees from approximately 8% to around 3% after transitioning to Stripe.
- Supports approximately 150 patient visits every day across 8 providers and 3 physical therapists with a scalable revenue cycle operation.
"Athelas has made my life easier just by knowing that they're chasing down money that's owed to us. I know somebody's working on our behalf, so I don't have to worry about, 'Did this get done? Did that get rebilled?' It's taken a lot of stress off. The owners love the information they're getting because it helps them make better business decisions."
— Justin Baird, Controller, Family First Medical Center
Family First Medical Center didn't just prepare for the retirement of long-tenured billing staff; it used the opportunity to modernize its entire revenue cycle. By combining proactive denial management, real-time financial insights, and a collaborative partnership, the practice has built a scalable billing operation that improves collections, supports strategic decision-making, and allows its team to stay focused on delivering exceptional care.
Ready to see what this could look like for your practice? Schedule a demo with Athelas, powered by Commure, today.
