Our RCM Interconnected CommUnity
TRACY BERRY
January 2024
VP & Chief Revenue Officer
ALL SMILES: CELEBRATING RETIREMENT COMMUNITY HONORING EACH OTHER 659 RCM TITLES
e m o c l we to
EDITORIAL:
Commun Each Othe Hello and welcome, RCM CommUnity, to our second issue of RCM Connections! If you’ve been following us closely, you may have noticed that we’ve already deviated from our original editorial calendar. But don’t worry; once you dive into the pages of this edition, you’ll understand why. On Thursday, I had the privilege of interviewing one of my Revenue Cycle friends, Tracy Berry. I first met Tracy several years ago in Chicago, where she and the original members of the Large System Revenue Cycle Council, the OG’s, came together. Tracy, along with Suzanne Lestina and others, recognized the importance of our RCM CommUnity, personal connections, and the strength that comes from peers. Back then, I wasn’t yet the marketing director of an RCM tech group in Orlando. I was still busy buying American dolls on “the mile,” working part-time for Oracle while chasing after our two energetic, blonde-haired, blue-eyed little people. Tracy never made a fuss about titles or positions – spouses and guests of peers were always warmly welcomed.
nity Honoring er JENA R. EGGERT Over the past decade, I’ve had the honor of hosting various events. Tracy has consistently been one of the first to RSVP or send her regrets with a thoughtful explanation. She brings a truly admirable level of professionalism, energy, and grace to every gathering. Tracy is not just a leader but also an exceptional listener, a formidable woman who always keeps her word and stays true to it.
CEO & Founder RCR|HUB and JER Marketing
I have no doubt that you and our entire RCM CommUnity will enjoy raising a glass to toast Tracy. Tracy, thank you for everything you’ve contributed to our industry. As you embark on your next chapter, here’s to you, my friend – cheers!
Jena Eggert Editor-in-Chief RCM Connections
TABLE OF CONTENTS
01. 15. 07. 19. 09. PROVIDER SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW WITH TRACY BERRY
HUBBUB BLOGS YOU SHOULD READ NOW
ABAX SPOTLIGHT WHO IS ABAX?
RCR|HUB SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
WHAT”S IN A NAME 659 RCM JOB CHANGES
From left to right: A Tracy Berry, VP & Ch Stacey Fuller, VP, Pa Harold Mueller, VP, R
PROVIDER SPOTLIGHT
TRACY BERRY Vice President & CHIEF Revenue OFFICER
Online Interview between Jena Eggert and Tracy Berry.
JENA: I am thrilled for you! Thanks for sharing your experiences and letting the RCM CommUnity join the celebration. How are you? Are you overwhelmed? TRACY: Next Friday, February 2nd, is my last day. I’m figuring out what I need to get done before then. I’m preparing for a big town hall meeting with all my staff tomorrow. Yesterday, I met with all my directors. There are a lot of last-minute tasks that I need to handle properly to make sure everything is in order.
Amy DeSart, VP, HIM/CDI/Coding hief Revenue Officer atient Access Revenue Management
*Editor’s Note: I took a moment to clarify to Tracy who the audience for this publication is. I explained that the article is distributed to her colleagues and business associates throughout the exclusive RCM-only CommUnity. I also mentioned that our most recent release garnered 18,000 readers in the first week. Emphasizing that the content she was about to share would be appreciated by her fellow members of the RCM community, where she plays a crucial role. JENA: Can you tell me about your career path leading to RCM? You can start from college or at any point you prefer. TRACY: Okay. I will start with my mom and dad because I knew when I got out of college, I had to get a job that supported me, and I didn’t know what path I wanted to take. Throughout my college career, I heard about medical records, now Health Information Management (HIM), so I started researching and figured I could get a job when I got graduated. I was right! I began at the VA hospital, which was a great way to start my career and an opportunity to support our veterans. I spent about a decade running the medical record departments. During that time, I got a master’s degree and then decided I would go to work for a consulting firm. I thought, “It’d be my internship, right?” Where I would sort of try to broaden myself outside of HIM. I thought I’d go for a few years but accidentally stayed for 10, and I loved it. As a consultant, I didn’t work in HIM at all. I worked throughout the hospital doing a lot of cost reduction and performance improvement work in supply chain, nursing. But later in that decade, I started working in RevCycle, and I was like, “Wow, it is a lot more fun to drive revenue than it is to cut costs.”
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That’s how I got into RevCycle. I was fortunate enough to join Tenet Healthcare, where Mike Gallo, one of my former clients, was in the process of growing his organization. He brought me in and took a giant leap of faith. I sometimes look back and go, what was he thinking? But he gave me this great job at Tenant, and I had some fabulous colleagues and peers, and it was a marvelous job. From there, I went to Centura Health in Denver and then came to BJC about 13 years ago. JENA: Thank you for sharing your journey. What advice or insights can you share with our RCM CommUnity regarding education, mentorship, and building relationships? You’ve already mentioned a few individuals who have significantly impacted your career. What is your perspective on connecting with people? TRACY: Given that my career is ending, I have been reflecting on this a lot and I do have advice. Some of it will be helpful. First, keep learning and never hesitate to ask questions. You know, from my background, I didn’t grow up in RevCycle. I didn’t have the depth of knowledge as people like Keith Eggert and others who know the field’s ins and outs. I had to ask lots of questions and depend on my peers and colleagues. Be curious, ask questions, listen, and ask for advice. Don’t think you’re supposed to know everything because no one knows it all! It’s important to lean on people. People sometimes think your career has to advance vertically. My advice is to think about growing your career, and sometimes, that’s a lateral move or maybe even a step back.
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I was a consultant and eventually became a partner. I was very proud of that. My kids were young in those days, and as consultants, we traveled all the time. I really needed to take a step back, but I wanted to still manage my career. I moved from being a partner in a large consulting firm to a director at Tenet. And, you know, it had an economic impact, but it also had a quality-of-life impact for me and my entire family. Making the move put me on this amazing path that I’ve been on. So, I took a step back to take three steps forward. I was a Senior Vice President at Centura, and I’m a Vice President at BJC. Who cares? Right? If it is the right job, it is the right step. So, career advancement in terms of career growth is not necessarily vertical. That’s my second piece of advice.
People som think your ca advance ver advice is to th growing yo and sometim lateral move even a ste
My third thought is that change is generally difficult. But try to embrace it to the extent you can. I had this wonderful job at Centura Health, where I loved my team and loved living in Denver. Things were so good. But BJC approached me with this opportunity, I believed it was a once-in-acareer opportunity to grow and reshape the entire RevCycle department at BJC which was completely decentralized at that time. The job was to standardize the operations and implement technology. I’ll tell you when I got there, my team knew this, it was really hard. It wasn’t as fun in those early days because the culture wasn’t there to support a centralized structure. People didn’t quite know what to expect, but I persevered and stayed.
It was the best decision of my career to come to BJC. As I prepare for next Friday, I keep reminding my team that change is hard. There’ll be someone new in my chair, take a minute and get to know them. Give yourself time. It will not automatically be perfect.
JENA: As you’re aware, I’ve consistently made it a mission to bridge what I refer to as the “gap in the aisle.” It’s about finding ways to unite healthcare providers and their business partners. This has been and will continue to be my passion. Were there any mentors metimes who were business areer has to partners who helped guide you in your rtically. My career?
hink about our career, mes, that’s a e or maybe ep back.
TRACY: Yes, there were.
Having been a consultant and being in service, I’m sure that has shaped the way I’ve thought about vendors. It was when I was at Centura that I embraced the importance. We were partnering with The Outsource Group in self-pay. I started seeing the value of being partners; they’re doing their thing, and I’m doing mine. But at the end of the day, I have several business partners that I go to. When I was talking about asking for advice and learning from others, I often said to my team, let’s learn from a business partner. Sometimes, they wind up in business for the vendor in those meetings, and sometimes, it does not.
Creating relationships is about, “We just got smarter about a topic that we didn’t know much about”. I want to clarify that I don’t want to waste vendors’ time by asking them to share their expertise. I want to be respectful of their time. However, each vendor has their own specific expertise and content area that they are focused on. They should know it better than I do. So, yes, I’ve learned a lot from my vendor partners. JENA: Last question. What is the best event that you attended while in your current role? TRACY: So funny, when I received this question via email, I thought, well, it depends on how you define best. For me, the best experiences are those where I learned the most. The one that stands out is the HFMA Large System Revenue Cycle Council. What’s great about this group is that there are no surprises – you know who will be attending, and you can count on the meetings being insightful. We have a lot of fun together. It’s not a fancy event; it’s all about the friendship and the relationships we build, which I prefer more than dinner events. JENA: Do you have any plans yet upon retirement? TRACY: No, I do not have a specific answer to that question. I’m resolved to the fact that I can retire, not knowing exactly what I’m going to do in retirement. About a year ago, I had this breakthrough, and I thought I was not going to figure that out when I was still working. So, thinking about this kind of change is a leap of faith for me. I love my job, and I love working at BJC. So, the reason I’m retiring is all-around family, the same reason I left consulting. 4
And so, my husband and I have a lot of things we want to do. We want to travel; we have several fun trips planned. I’ve decided to see how it feels once I retire. I really want to do nothing but goof off and be with my family for the first six or nine months, and then I’ll see where life takes me. I am retiring; I won’t go back to some big job. But if there was something appropriate for me to help with, I might do a little something. I don’t know what that is, whether it’s something such as community service or something in RevCycle. I don’t know. JENA: Final thoughts? Is there anything else or anybody you want to recognize or anything that you want to see in print? TRACY: I want to recognize my team. Every team needs a leader for sure, but a leader cannot do it all alone. I am so grateful to the leadership at BJC, who have invested in RevCycle and have been with us through thick and thin.
It hasn’t always been a picnic. I am so grateful to BJC’s executive leadership and to my team. We’ve evolved and grown. When I first got to BJC, there were 30 people in a shared service, RevCycle. Today, there are almost 2000. There has been such an evolution of growth over the years; we’ve just kept growing, and that meant that the leadership team grew. As I mentioned when we started, I had a meeting yesterday with my directors and VPs; there are 20 of them in total. I went around from newest to oldest in terms of how long we’d been together and said, a little bit about them and what I appreciated about them. I talked about each person and what I learned from them. It was really rewarding to think about that amazing team and how they’ve supported me and all the things we’ve achieved. It’s been a journey. And now we’re merging with St. Luke’s in Kansas City. Unfortunately, I’m going to miss that party but I’m confident that I’m leaving BJC in good hands.
Lastly, I ended our 30-minute interview with a surprise. I emailed Tracy a link to join a surprise Zoom call. A beautiful farewell with her “peeps” that were able to join. Life is good!
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BEHIND
THE SCENES
Ed, Dim, Tracy & Yana
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Contact Us Today
Scott Friesen| CEO - scott@abaxhealth.com Kevin Sleeper| Chief Growth Officer - kevin.sleeper@abaxhealth.com Keith Eggert| Chief Strategy Officer- keith.eggert@abaxhealth.com
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WHAT
NA 6 5 9
R C M
J O B
C
In February of 2023, our journey in Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) reached a significant milestone as the JER Marketing team unveiled a new website: RCRHUB. COM. As we embarked on its development, we meticulously outlined various objectives and deliverables. A top priority on our list was the creation of a platform where we could celebrate the trailblazers within our Revenue Cycle CommUnity. After months of dedicated brainstorming, we circled back to the essence of what truly sets our CommUnity apart – our people. So, what exactly is healthcare Revenue Cycle and what makes our healthcare Revenue Cycle CommUnity special? Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) encompasses all administrative and clinical processes involved in the acquisition, organization, and retrieval of patient service revenue.” In simpler terms, the Revenue Cycle encompasses every step from the initial creation of a patient account (at intake, which could be at a doctor’s office, outpatient clinic, tertiary care center, healthcare facility, system, or organization) to the eventual payment for the specific treatment, surgery, or care provided. What makes our CommUnity special?
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The Dedication to Excellence: Members of our CommUnity are deeply committed to excellence in Revenue Cycle Management (RCM). They share a passion for ensuring that patient care services are financially supported and delivered efficiently. Innovation: Our CommUnity thrives on innovation. Our members do their best to find new technologies, strategies, and best practices to stay ahead in the industry. Collaboration: Collaboration is a cornerstone of our CommUnity. Members regularly come together to share insights, best practices, and challenges, fostering a spirit of cooperation that benefits everyone involved. 10
Trailblazing Leaders: Our CommUnity is home to trailblazing leaders who continuously push the boundaries of what’s possible in RCM. These individuals are not content with the status quo; they seek out new challenges and opportunities to drive progress. Unique Expertise: Members of our CommUnity bring unique expertise to the table. Whether it’s in payer rules and regulations, accounting, billing, coding, collections, or revenue cycle analytics, our CommUnity members are experts in their respective areas. Adaptability: Healthcare RCM demands adaptability. Our CommUnity excels in adapting to new regulations, industry trends, and evolving patient care models. Individual Contributions: Ultimately, what makes our Revenue Cycle CommUnity truly special is the collective impact of its individual members. Each person brings their skills, insights, and dedication to the table, contributing to the success and growth of the entire CommUnity.
140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 CEO
CFO
Director of Revenue Cycle
The combination of dedication, innovation, collaboration, trailblazing leaders, unique expertise, adaptability, and individual contributions that makes our Revenue Cycle CommUnity special and a driving force in RCM. Our innovative leaders in RCM are always seeking new challenges. In April 2023, we decided it was time to start documenting executive job changes, and what better title to capture their essence than “Shakers and Movers”? This term, a variation of the more commonly used “movers and shakers,” refers to influential and dynamic individuals capable of effecting change, driving progress, and making things happen within healthcare RCM. These are the visionaries who take initiative, create opportunities, and lead with unwavering innovation and energy. They stand at the forefront of industry developments and serve as catalysts for positive change. 11
As organizations invest more in enhancing their RCM capabilities, leadership roles within the industry continue to evolve. Below, we delve into the top five job titles in the RCM industry, based on our ‘Shakers and Movers’ reports. Our findings revealed a staggering 659 different job titles used by organizations to recruit healthcare Revenue Cycle talent. According to our data, the most frequently filled job title was “Director of Revenue Cycle,” occupying 124 positions in the last nine months. The Director of Revenue Cycle bears the responsibility of overseeing all aspects of an organization’s revenue cycle operations.
JOB TITLE ROLES
Revenue Cycle Analytics Position
Manager Revenue Cycle
Revenue Cycle Specialist
Percentage
Sr. Director RCM
Sr. Manager Sr. Revenue VP - Revenue Cycle RCM Cycle Analyst Management
Roles Filled
This role demands extensive knowledge of payer rules and regulations, billing, coding, collections, and revenue cycle analytics. Additionally, the Director of Revenue Cycle provides guidance and support to staff on all revenue cycle matters. In second place, with 83 positions filled, is the “Manager Revenue Cycle.” This role involves supervising the coordination and management of revenue cycle operations for a specific department. Responsibilities include managing staff, ensuring compliance with regulations, and maximizing revenue through effective billing, collections, and analytics.
In the third position, “Vice President - Revenue Cycle Management” filled 47 roles. The Vice President in this role oversees the strategic direction and implementation of an organization’s revenue cycle operations. This includes supervising managers, spearheading the development of financial goals, and collaborating with various departments to ensure financial and operational efficiency. Fourth place goes to “Sr. Manager Revenue Cycle Manager,” which has been filled 18 times since April. And last but certainly not least, the “Senior Director of RCM” role, tied with titles such as “Revenue Cycle Analytics,” was filled 14 times. 12
In concluding our top-five ranking, we have a tie for the fifth position. The contenders are “Revenue Cycle Analytics” and “Senior Director, RCM.” Revenue Cycle Analyst, are responsible for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting financial data related to the entire revenue cycle process. This includes evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of billing and reimbursement procedures, identifying areas for cost optimization, and monitoring revenue trends. By leveraging data analytics tools and techniques, these professionals help healthcare organizations make informed decisions to improve revenue generation, reduce billing errors, and enhance overall financial performance, ultimately ensuring the financial health of the institution. A Senior Director RCM is a high-level leader in a healthcare organization responsible for strategically managing and optimizing the financial aspects of Revenue Cycle. This role involves overseeing teams, analyzing financial data, ensuring compliance with healthcare regulations, improving processes, and maximizing revenue generation while minimizing financial risks. Senior Directors of RCM also play a crucial role in budgeting, relationship management with external stakeholders, and leveraging data analytics to drive informed decision-making, ultimately contributing to the organization’s financial health and efficiency in healthcare revenue management.
A key observation from our data analysis highlights the increasing complexity and specialization of leadership roles in the industry, supported by the existence of 659 unique job titles. While the title “Director of Revenue Cycle” was prevalent at 124 occurrences, many were highly specific, such as “Director of RCM & Billing” or “Director of RCM & Clinical Integration.” This diversity underscores the unique needs of each organization within Revenue Cycle Management. You can explore the complete list on The HUB, in the Hubbub section of the site [https://rcrhub.com/hubbub]. As we look ahead to 2024, we eagerly anticipate tracking the journeys of our “shakers and movers!” Just as RCM continues to evolve, we remain committed to monitoring the increasing complexity and specialization of leadership roles, as reflected in the diverse array of job titles. Lastly, a heartfelt congratulations to all our remarkable “shakers and movers!”
659
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Jena Eggert
Paulina Molina
CEO & Founder jena.eggert@rcrhub.com
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