Clean ClAImsFirst Pass

CareCloud vs R1 RCM

Two End-to-End RCM vendors, side by side. Facts from public sources; judgments are ours.

At a glance

Derived from public facts · a rough scale, not a ranking

CareCloudR1 RCM
Pricing model

Percent of collections · Software also sold by subscription

Percent of collections · roughly 4-7% of net collections

Speed to go live

Billing transition and setup, one to three months

full outsourcing with staff transitions

Automation model

Tech-enabled service · Offshore RCM teams plus own software

Tech-enabled service · embedded teams plus AI automation

Built for

Small practices, Mid-size groups, Billing companies

Enterprise systems

Security posture

HIPAA

HITRUST, SOC 2 Type II, PCI DSS, HIPAA

Company maturity

27 yrs (est. 1999)

23 yrs (est. 2003)

Financial backing

Public (NASDAQ: CCLD)

PE-owned (TowerBrook and CD&R)

Named customers

1 named

4 named

Published results

Specific numbers public

No public numbers

Documented integrations

3 listed

4 listed

Third-party validation

None found

None found

Bottom line

  • Pick CareCloud if you run an ambulatory group and want low-cost outsourced billing bundled with workable cloud PM/EHR software.
  • Pick R1 RCM if you are a hospital or health system ready to hand the entire revenue cycle to an outside operator, staff included.

CareCloud

Outsourced RCM plus cloud PM and EHR for ambulatory groups

Founded
1999
HQ
Somerset, NJ
Stage
Public (NASDAQ: CCLD)
Raised
n/a

What it does

  • Outsourced medical billing and RCM
  • Cloud practice management and EHR
  • AI tools: front desk agent, note generation
  • Credentialing and enrollment services
  • Hospital EHR and supply chain via Medsphere
  • Analytics and benchmarking (HFMA MAP App)

Where it's strong

  • Percent-of-collections pricing with a large offshore delivery team keeps costs low for small groups.
  • Newly profitable, with FY2025 revenue of $120.5 million and positive GAAP EPS.
  • Aggressive AI investment (front desk voice agent, documentation) is shipping, not just slideware.

What buyers should weigh

  • Growth has come partly from acquisitions (Medsphere, MAP App), so product integration is uneven.
  • The company went through financial distress and dividend suspensions before its 2024-2025 turnaround.
  • Offshore-heavy delivery means service quality varies by account team.

Named customers

Memorial Hospital

Integrations

Works with third-party EHRs for RCMCareCloud Charts and talkEHRMedsphere CareVue hospital EHR
Full CareCloud profile →

R1 RCM

The largest end-to-end RCM operator

Founded
2003
HQ
Murray, UT
Stage
PE-owned (TowerBrook and CD&R)
Raised
n/a

What it does

  • Full outsourced revenue cycle operations, front door to final payment
  • Patient access, scheduling, and registration services at scale
  • Coding, billing, denials management, and underpayment recovery
  • Cloudmed revenue intelligence mines charts for missed revenue
  • R37 lab building agentic AI for coding and denials
  • Modular offerings for physician groups and hospitals

Where it's strong

  • Unmatched scale and data: serves 94 of the top 100 health systems and processes 550 million patient encounters a year.
  • Can take over the entire revenue cycle including staff, which few vendors can credibly offer a large health system.
  • The exclusive Palantir partnership (R37) gives it a serious platform for agentic AI across coding, billing, and denials.

What buyers should weigh

  • Full outsourcing means deep operational dependence; unwinding an R1 contract is a multi-year project.
  • Built for large health systems; small and mid-size groups are not the core market and get less attention.
  • PE ownership after the $8.9B take-private adds margin pressure, and the company has weathered customer disputes and a 2024 cyberattack ripple from partners.

Named customers

Ascension · Intermountain Health · AMITA Health · Quorum Health

Integrations

EpicOracle Health (Cerner)MeditechWorks across major hospital EHRs
Full R1 RCM profile →

Compare against the rest of End-to-End RCM

Deciding between these two?

First Pass tracks End-to-End RCM every week: funding, launches, and what changed since this page was written.