February 7, 2014 | Mark Neilson Profile: San Diego-based leader in the fields of geropsychology and geropsychiatry, enjoying an 18-year successful track record and earning the distinction of being one of the nation’s leading providers of behavioral healthcare services in skilled nursing facilities. Objective: Vericare’s CFO engaged Accretive because (1) the company needed to quickly cut costs and improve cash flows; and (2) the CFO did not have the luxury of time to get around to all the cost areas by himself over time. Quick actions were needed without hiring fee-based consultants. Annual Cost Savings Results: Accretive assessed the following areas but determined that CCHS was doing a very good job in these areas or the estimated savings were not material enough to pursue or implement. This is also considered a positive outcome since it validated the team’s efforts to contain cost and improve efficiency: Property, Casualty & Liability Insurance – $40,000: Accretive referred their insurance expert who helped lower premium costs without changing brokers. Copiers / Document management – $34,000 (3 yrs): Accretive’s subject matter expert in this area quickly renegotiated copier leases with some unexpectedly high savings. Small Parcel / Fed-X – $4,000: One of Accretive’s relationships allowed Vericare to “piggy-back” on a group purchasing organization (GPO) at no cost and provided free GPO memberships for Vericare employees as well to help them save on some of their personal expenses. Telecommunications – $9,000: Reduced internet & certain telecom costs by 50% and increased speed using Accretive’s recommended specialists. Deferred savings (areas where implementation of savings tactics were delayed by choice): Worker’s Comp insurance – $15,000 (est) Health Insurance – $100k-$200k / year (subject to claims experience) Technology – $5,000 savings on offsite back-up “Accretive referred the right subject matter experts to us so that we did not have to use “trial & error” to find the right resources. By referring their vetted specialists in each area, Accretive saved us time and money. I managed the cost savings assessment myself but used Accretive’s proven experts in each area to shortcut the process and get savings fast.” Buddy Voit, CFO – Vericare