Michigan Medicine Seeks A Chief Revenue Cycle Officer (CRCO)

If you want to understand how medical billing became so avaricious, you need to understand the role of the Chief Revenue Cycle Officer (CRCO).  The CRCO is the corporate myrmidon who creates and enforces the opaque billing practices which extract outsized revenues and generate outraged customers.

Michigan Medicine is now seeking a Chief Revenue Cycle Officer (CRCO) in Ann Arbor to improve their bottom line at your expense.  The job proffer, from Kirby Partners:

https://www.kirbypartners.com/jobs/chief-revenue-cycle-officer/

Chief Revenue Cycle Officer
Michigan Medicine Ann Arbor, MI

Michigan Medicine has exclusively retained Kirby Partners to support its search for a Chief Revenue Cycle Officer.

Michigan Medicine is one of the largest health care complexes in the world and has been the site of many groundbreaking medical and technological advancements since the opening of the U-M Medical School in 1850. Michigan Medicine comprises over 30,000 employees, with a vision to attract, inspire, and develop outstanding people in medicine, sciences, and healthcare to become one of the world’s most distinguished academic health systems. In some way, great or small, every person at Michigan Medicine helps to advance this world-class institution. Work at Michigan Medicine and become a victor for the greater good.

Michigan Medicine is one of the largest academic health care organizations focusing on clinical care, research, and education including:

• U-M Health – the clinical care arm, including the Academic Medical Center in Ann Arbor, UH-Sparrow in Lansing, and UH-West in Grand Rapids, along with associated medical staff practice groups.
• University of Michigan Medical School – one of the nation’s largest biomedical and health science research and education facilities.
• Michigan Health Corporation — a 501(c)(3) established to respond to the dynamic healthcare landscape through partnerships, affiliations, joint ventures, and other projects that support the tripartite mission.

Michigan Medicine opened a new landmark adult hospital, the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Health Care Pavilion, that includes 264 private rooms capable of converting to intensive care, state-of-the-art operating rooms, advanced imaging, and high-level, specialty care services. The hospital opened for patient care in November. Further clinical expansion is continuing with U-M Health’s new state-of-the-art specialty center in Oakland County, the Frances & Kenneth Eisenberg Troy Center for Specialty Care, slated to open in the spring 2027.

The University of Michigan has evolved into a leader in innovative research, groundbreaking scientific discoveries, world-class education and training, and the operation of an academic medical center at the forefront of health and patient care. Michigan Medicine’s tripartite mission of health care, research, and education is further strengthened by integration with the University of Michigan and collaborating across its various schools, colleges, centers, and institutes.

Honors and Awards

• Top 25 Universities in the World by Times Higher Education for 2026
• University of Michigan Health named one of the World’s Best Hospitals in 2026, and #12 in the United States, by Newsweek and Statista
• Michigan Medicine recognized as one of America’s Best-in-State Employers for 2025 by Forbes
• University of Michigan was recognized in Crain’s 2025 Best Places to Work in Southeast Michigan
• Michigan Medicine named one of America’s Best Employers for New Grads 2025, among the top 10 Michigan employers evaluated by Forbes and Statista
• U-M Health named to the nation’s Honor Roll of Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report, the #1 hospital in Michigan, ranked among the nation’s best in 11 different specialties for 2025
• Michigan Medicine C.S. Mott Children’s was recognized as one of America’s Best Children’s Hospitals 2025 by Newsweek and Statista
• University of Michigan Health-Michigan Medicine earned Top 25 Environmental Excellence award from Practice Greenhealth for 2025 & 2026
• Michigan Medicine named one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in metropolitan Detroit in 2024 by the National Association for Business Resources
• Nationally recognized for work/life effectiveness by WorldatWork

Facts and Figures

 ~48.6K hospital discharges
 ~54K surgical cases
 870 survival flight missions
 2,000+ licensed beds (medical & surgical) system wide
 ~118.5K emergency / urgent care visits
 ~2.98M outpatient clinic visits
 5,425 deliveries
 30,516 employees
 100+ residency and fellowship programs
 1,885 active clinical trials

(Source: Patient Care Activity FY 2025 and Michigan Medicine By the Numbers 2025.)

Position Overview

Michigan Medicine is committed to operational and technology transformation, and the Chief Revenue Cycle Officer (CRCO) leads revenue cycle strategy and operations across the state-wide clinical and research missions, serving as a key strategic partner to institutional leadership.

A defining near-term responsibility is Michigan Medicine’s consolidation of three Epic instances across the Academic Medical Center and Regional Health Network into a single enterprise platform. The CRCO leads the revenue cycle workstream for this initiative, building the governance framework to unify billing operations and set consistent standards across all entities. In addition to helping navigate the consolidation of revenue cycle with the One Epic project, the CRCO will also assist with the transformation of revenue cycle, looking at emerging technologies and Agentic AI.

As Michigan Medicine continues to grow, there will be other organizations brought onto their Revenue Cycle. The CRCO will lead a team of approximately 1200 individuals, and customer orientation and a customer friendly approach are key to success. Leading people through change and to upskill will be paramount.

Partnering closely with the CDIO and other key stakeholders in the organization, the understanding of technology and how it can improve the revenue cycle process is important. One Epic will bring change to billing and revenue cycle, and this position will have the opportunity to influence and partner with digital, clinical, operational, compliance, legal, Medical School, and departmental leaders across the enterprise.

The CRCO reports to the Michigan Medicine Chief Financial Officer and leads the Revenue Cycle Steering Committee.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute an enterprise revenue cycle strategy and metric-driven operating model aligned with Michigan Medicine’s clinical, research, and financial goals.
• Lead the revenue cycle workstream for the One Epic initiative, establishing the governance framework to align billing operations across entities and minimize customizations that limit enterprise scalability.
• Provide revenue cycle guidance on service expansion, consolidation, and growth initiatives, including financial due diligence, operating model design, and readiness assessments.
• Maintain a current perspective on healthcare reform, regulatory change, and the reimbursement environment, and translate that intelligence into operational and strategic priorities.
• Define business priorities and accountability for revenue cycle automation and Artificial Intelligence technology utilization. Partner with digital, Epic, and vendor teams to ensure solutions are integrated and measurable. Lead the workforce and workflow redesign that automation requires.
• Partner with Managed Care and Contracting to manage payer relationships and contracts across the Academic Medical Center and the Regional Health Network, using data to benchmark performance, negotiate effectively, and protect revenue.
• Collaborate on clinical documentation integrity, research billing compliance, coverage analysis, and physician and faculty coding education across the clinical enterprises.
• Improve the patient financial experience from pre-service through final billing, including transparency, payment options, financial assistance, and patient-facing digital tools.
• Maintain a metrics-driven operation focused on clean claims, denial prevention, avoidable write-offs, accounts receivable, and cost-to-collect performance.
• Identify root causes of net revenue loss and act quickly to put corrective measures in place.
• Oversee revenue cycle functions, including Patient Access, Coding, Health Information Management, Facility and Professional Billing, Accounts Receivable, Payment Posting, Patient Customer Service, Revenue Analytics, Compliance, Technology, and Training.
• Lead a large, distributed revenue cycle team across multiple geographies, building a culture of performance, engagement, and continuous improvement.
• Manage budgets, staffing models, and vendor relationships with cost discipline and operational accountability.

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, healthcare administration, or a related field required.
• Master’s degree is strongly preferred.

Required Experience

• Fifteen or more years of progressive revenue cycle leadership, including experience in a large, complex health system.
• Demonstrated enterprise-scale financial results in net revenue improvement, accounts receivable reduction, denial management, and cost-to-collect performance.
• Proven experience navigating large-scale system conversions or consolidations from a business leadership perspective.
• A track record of maintaining high operational performance and staff engagement during significant organizational change.
• Experience building collaborative relationships in a matrixed governance environment, including balancing regional needs with central standards.
• Experience leading revenue cycle technology adoption, automation, and related change management.
• Demonstrated financial management skills, including budgeting, forecasting, AR and reserve analysis, and financial reporting.

Desired Experience

• Deep experience in the governance and financial structures of a university-based health system or academic medical center, including funds flow environments.
• Specific experience with research billing compliance, clinical trial coverage analysis, and faculty and physician group support.
• Familiarity with the strategic capabilities of Epic Resolute, Prelude, and related revenue cycle modules.
• Knowledge of Medicare Advantage, HCC coding, and value-based care contract management.

Skills and Competencies

• Ability to build trust and alignment among faculty, clinicians, and administrative peers in a highly matrixed academic environment.
• Skilled at communicating financial strategy and operational priorities with clarity, transparency, and credibility at the executive level.
• Proven ability to execute multi-year initiatives with measurable financial outcomes, disciplined risk management, and accountability across teams.
• Effectiveness in leading large organizations through technology-driven transformation, including workflow redesign, staff development, and vendor management.
• Ability and willingness to exhibit behaviors consistent with standards of performance improvement and organizational values (e.g., efficiency & financial responsibility, safety, partnership & service, teamwork, compassion, integrity, and trust & respect).

If you had your druthers, this would be the one position you would prefer Michigan Medicine fill with a DEI empty suit.  Won't happen, though, because it is too important to the bottom line.