Edhat Staff
MedBridge, a leading provider of ambulatory surgery center (ASC) and physician practice development, management, consulting and revenue cycle services, has recently implemented a corporate infrastructure change through the creation of a Senior Management Team.
Comprised of four instrumental MedBridge decision-makers, this new group of senior management reports to President and CEO Dave Odell and Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff Ruth Loomer. It is focused on being the bridge between the company’s executive leadership and its mid-level managers and committed staff members, who drive the business forward.
In its 19th year managing the business side of medicine for its clients, MedBridge now boasts nearly 50 employees. Accounting for growth is a crucial part of the company’s culture and success, according to Loomer.
“Setting these four individuals apart from our growing management team allows us to ensure that every new client, every business decision and every staff member has been vetted and considered in our growth plans,” she said.
The Senior Management Team consists of directors of finance and analytics, revenue cycle management, client services, and clinical services. The unit features three MedBridge veterans—each possessing nearly a decade of service to the company—and one recent addition with a wealth of nursing and management experience.
Caleb Rhoads has assumed the role of Director of Finance and Analytics. He provides tremendous fiscal oversight, budgetary control and analytical expertise to MedBridge’s clients. This allows MedBridge to monitor trends for each client and identify opportunities for increased profitability or cost savings on which to capitalize. He is also in charge of leveraging the company’s deep analytical findings into a fully customized reporting suite for all clients, providing personalized insight that is critical to their decision-making. Rhoads, who celebrates his 10-year MedBridge anniversary in December, previously served as Controller and became Director of Financial Services in 2010 prior to accepting his current position. Shannon Leal, who had been Accounting Manager since 2011, was promoted to Controller upon Rhoads’ appointment to the Senior Management Team.
Ashley Nagaoka is now Director of Revenue Cycle Management. She oversees the daily operations of MedBridge’s revenue cycle, namely the Patient Services and Billing and Accounts Receivable departments. She provides support to the managers of those departments, assisting them to deliver excellent customer service to both patients and clients. She ensures that the revenue cycle runs smoothly by bringing her extensive understanding of insurance collections and contracts to the team. Nagaoka has been with the company since 2009, previously serving as Accounts Receivable Coordinator, Resource Manager and Accounts Receivable Manager.
Audrey Dunlop has taken the reins of the Director of Client Services position, wherein she serves as the main contact for all of MedBridge’s surgery center and physician practice clients. Dunlop ensures that all clients are well taken care of and administratively compliant for accreditation and certification. With years of revenue cycle operational oversight and on-the-ground experience at ASCs, she is able to speak into current processes at the facility level and provide solutions and training in the currently changing health care atmosphere. Another member of the 10-year MedBridge tenure club, Dunlop most recently served as General Manager since 2012. She has also worked in a variety of other roles, including accounting, patient care, surgery center development and licensure/accreditation, nursing staff supervision, partner relations, human resources and surgery scheduler coordination.
Patty Harrison, MN, BSN, RN, became MedBridge’s Southern California Director of Clinical Services in the first quarter of 2015, but her role was recently expanded to include Northern California. Harrison oversees clinical operations for MedBridge’s ASCs and is responsible for achieving and maintaining all accreditation and certification standards for each center. Her expertise and knowledge lies in project development and business advancements in the surgical arena. With over 10 years of nursing and management experience, Harrison guides each ASC to achieve excellence in health care standards and quality patient care. She has a proven track record of successfully managing and operating medical outpatient and surgical centers through a collaborative approach among surgeons and staff. Harrison has been involved in numerous medical volunteerism programs both locally and abroad, is a recipient of several nursing awards and is regularly named on the Becker’s ASC Review annual list of “ASC Administrators to Know.”
According to Loomer, the introduction of this new management tier is just one of the many ways MedBridge aims to achieve efficacy in its strategic planning and remain on the cutting edge of the health care industry; an arena in which one of the only constants is change.
“MedBridge has been committed to growing and changing since our inception, and this is even more critical in today’s shifting health care landscape,” Loomer said. “We are constantly asking ourselves what we can do differently—smarter, better, faster—to support the surgeons and specialists who trust us to manage their businesses. From daily processes to overarching infrastructure changes, we aim to be innovative and proactively ahead of the industry.”
About Medbridge
MedBridge Development, LLC is a socially and environmentally responsible company that provides a full suite of development, management, consulting and revenue cycle services to more than 20 ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and physician practices. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Santa Barbara, Calif., MedBridge is led by a team of nearly 50 professionals who are focused on managing the business side of health care. MedBridge seeks to free surgeons and specialists to focus their best energy on healing their patients and advancing their craft by being the experts whom they trust to manage all the details of their facilities for them. Additional information about MedBridge is available at www.MedBridge.md
