BUSINESS DESCRIPTION AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION Accretive Health, Inc. (the "Company") is a leading provider of services that help healthcare providers generate sustainable improvements in their operating margins and healthcare quality while also improving patient, physician and staff satisfaction. The Company's revenue cycle management service offering helps U.S. healthcare providers more efficiently manage their revenue cycles, which encompass patient registration, insurance and benefit verification, medical treatment documentation and coding, bill preparation and collections. Accretive Health's physician advisory services offering assists hospitals navigate the path to compliant revenue by appropriately classifying a hospital visit as an in-patient or observation case for billing purposes. The Company's quality and total cost of care service offering enables healthcare providers to effectively manage the health of a defined patient population, which the Company believes is a future direction of the manner in which healthcare services will be delivered in the United States. The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements reflect the Company's financial position as of March 31, 2012 , the results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011 , and the cash flows of the Company for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011 . These financial statements include the accounts of Accretive Health, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany accounts have been eliminated in consolidation. These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ( GAAP ) for interim financial reporting and as required by the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the  SEC ). Accordingly, certain information and footnote disclosures required for complete financial statements are not included herein. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting of normal re