<p>YAKIMA -- Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center has outsourced the billing operations of its nine medical clinics in a cost-saving move that officials say will not involve layoffs.</p> <p>Central Washington Medical Group, the Regional affiliate that owns the clinics, hired a division of NextGen Healthcare of Horsham, Pa., to handle the billing, said Tom Jones, executive director of the medical group.</p> <p>"We're not anticipating layoffs," Jones said. "We do expect a restructuring, a realignment of jobs." He said he doesn't know yet how many people will be affected.</p> <p>Jones said the outsourcing became necessary because the separate billing functions weren't being performed efficiently, causing late collections.</p> <p>The hospital's move is part of a corporate decision. Last May, Regional's parent company, Health Management Associates, signed an agreement with NextGen's Practice Solutions division to manage its collections, accounts receivable, billing, scheduling and other practice functions.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: right;"><em>-- Leah Beth Ward</em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> YAKIMA -- Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center has outsourced the billing operations of its nine medical clinics in a cost-saving move that officials say will not involve layoffs. Central Washington Medical Group, the Regi City Desk, LOCAL 2008-10-08T20:57:42Z 2008-10-09T17:09:04Z false 2008-10-10T17:33:39Z Yakima Regional outsources its billing operations 8279 yakima-regional-outsources-its-billing-operations Web Story Yakima Herald-Republic Yakima Herald-Republic 0 2008-10-09T17:33:00Z 6419652 Web a.m. Regional billing published Web Daily 2008-10-11T05:32:23Z 10