On this episode of the MGMA Insights Podcast, host Daniel Williams, Senior Editor at MGMA, sits down with Jimmie Richmond, MPH, CHFP, CMPE, CPC, Financial Analysis Consultant at Banner University Medical Center. Jimmie is both a longtime MGMA member and a volunteer on MGMA’s new Human Resources & Compliance Advisory Board.
Daniel and Jimmie explore the modern challenges facing medical practices — from unbilled revenue recovery to workforce shortages, patient access, remote work, and how leaders can weave compassion, communication, and connection into their operations. They also discuss the power of professional community through MGMA’s Book Club and advisory boards, offering listeners actionable insights to strengthen both their teams and their financial performance.
Key Takeaways:
• 1:53 — The “Unbilled Revenue” Problem: Why It Happens & How to Fix It
Jimmie explains how his team identifies root causes of unbilled revenue in the EMR—an issue that directly impacts margins. He highlights the need for cross-functional collaboration between finance, revenue cycle, and providers.
• 5:27 — A Career Built on Connection, Persistence, and Service
From call centers to surgery centers to financial analysis, Jimmie shares how listening skills and empathy became core leadership tools.
• 9:01 — Book Club as Leadership Training: Why MGMA Members Should Join
Daniel and Jimmie discuss how MGMA’s Book Club builds leadership skills, encourages vulnerability, and helps members solve real-time workplace problems.
• 12:55 — Finding Your Place in MGMA: Scholarships, Certification, and Fellowship
Jimmie recounts how MGMA’s education, grants, and benchmarking tools helped advance his career—and how the fellowship journey validated his expertise.
• 18:05 — Why a Finance Professional Joined the HR & Compliance Advisory Board
Jimmie explains how financial analytics intersects with HR and compliance, and why multidisciplinary perspectives matter for better decision-making.
• 20:20 — The Pressures Facing Practices Today: Patient Access, Staff Retention, & Provider Burnout
Jimmie outlines the post-COVID challenges he sees across the system and why compassion must be a core leadership competency.
• 22:13 — Making Remote Work… Actually Work: Tools, Touchpoints, and Trust
As a fully remote financial consultant for a Phoenix-based practice, Jimmie offers tactical advice for communication rhythms, collaboration tools, and building team cohesion from afar.
• 22:54 — How Leaders Can Recruit Talent in a Competitive Landscape
Remote work can widen talent pools—if leaders invest in connection, scheduling discipline, and inclusive communication practices.
Resources Mentioned:
- Jimmie on LinkedIn
- MGMA Book Club (Align the Mind – December Selection)
Send an email of interest to Daniel Williams - dwilliams@mgma.com - MGMA Volunteer Opportunities
- MGMA DataDive (Benchmarking Tool)
- MGMA Education & Certification (CMPE & Fellowship)
- MGMA Conferences
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Daniel Williams (00:02):
Well, everyone. I'm Daniel Williams, senior
editor at MGMA and host of theMGMA Podcast Network. We're
really excited. We're gonnastart a new series where we're
talking to MGMA members, andsome of those members might be
on an advisory board that we'vecreated here at MGMA. And this
is our first interview to talkto one of our advisory board
(00:26):
members.
We've got Jimmie Richmond .Jimmie and I go back. We have
been on the MGMA Book Clubtogether. If you've heard me
talk about the Book Clubpreviously, own podcasts. We've
had some of the authors fromthose books own the MGMA podcast
as well.
But Jimmie is also in Colorado.We were just talking prior to
(00:52):
this that we should have hadJimmie come on down to Denver
and meet us here in studio. Wemay do that sometime in 2026. We
love that energy when we havesomebody live. But for now,
let's just welcome Jimmie to theshow.
Jimmie, I just wanted to say,hey, we just were in the book
club yesterday. We spent a goodbit of time talking about the
(01:14):
latest book, but welcome to theshow.
Jimmie Richmond (01:17):
Oh, thank you. Thank you. It's a pleasure.
Daniel Williams (01:20):
Yeah. So you and I have known each other for
at least two years becausethat's when we started the book
club. I can't remember if we metthrough the book club or through
MGMA, but where I wanted tostart then was just to share a
little bit about the practicethat you're in now. And I know
that you're in Greeley,Colorado. It's in Northern
(01:40):
Colorado.
It's pretty darn close to theWyoming border, right? Is that
correct?
Jimmie Richmond (01:45):
It is. Yeah.
Daniel Williams (01:47):
So share with us a little bit about what your
role is and what the practice isthere in Greeley.
Jimmie Richmond (01:53):
Oh, sure. Sure. And I am a virtual worker
working remotely, and I'mcurrently a supervisor and
financial analysis consultantfor the Banner University
Medical Center in Phoenix. Whata dream job to be able to, when
I moved from Phoenix to here, tokeep that. And it's amazing
(02:15):
position.
And specialty, I'm a member offinance, but we specialize and
focus on identifying andrecovering unbilled revenue. And
that's a heavy lift. Right?Right. And so this involves work
in the EMR and a cross sectionwith revenue cycle, revenue
(02:36):
integrity.
My small team looks for the rootcauses of why aren't we billing
everything out. And so there'shard dollars attached to that
work. And it's hard work. It'stedious, often delicate because
we're dealing with providers andexecs and operational managers,
but it is always rewarding.
Daniel Williams (02:58):
Yeah. That is so cool. Now we're going to
touch on a lot of topics today,I'm really excited about this,
but I want to go back tosomething that you and I talked
about. We both have aMississippi connection. Anybody
who hears me do this show says,Where are you from?
Because sometimes when peoplethink South, they'll say, you're
(03:18):
from either they'll lump Texasinto the South, which us true
Southerners don't do, and Texansdon't like that either. They're
gonna know we're from Texas.We're not from the South. But
people will say they think I'mfrom South Carolina or North
Carolina. I go, No, I'm fromMississippi.
You also have a Mississippiconnection. But when I hear you
(03:39):
talk, I don't hear this. Haveyou gone through training or
something? How do you not have aSouthern accent?
Jimmie Richmond (03:46):
Well, I lived there for fifteen years of my
adult life. So I came fromColorado. Interestingly lived
ten plus years in Texas, so Iknow of what you speak. Texas is
its own country.
Daniel Williams (03:59):
That's right.
Jimmie Richmond (04:01):
But when I get tired, I start to my r's become
very pronounced. They sound likea's.
Daniel Williams (04:08):
Yep.
Jimmie Richmond (04:08):
So like the word Tyler, you you would go,
oh, I gotcha. So I have to workon proper pronunciation.
Daniel Williams (04:17):
Yeah. Well, is really cool. Yeah, I just spent
the past week in Alabama.Somehow I grew up in
Mississippi, but my family, myparents and my siblings and some
nieces and nephews andgrandnieces and nephews all live
in Birmingham now. They justsort of all wound up there,
(04:39):
which is really interesting.
I spent almost a week inAlabama. So I know of what you
speak, if I get around, if I'mtired or if I'm around my
siblings and my parents, then itstarts rubbing off on me. I may
even sound for everybody alittle more Southern in this
(05:00):
episode than I normally do, butit's great having you on the
show, Jimmie.
Jimmie Richmond (05:05):
I appreciate that. And I've lived in
Birmingham for two years, so Ican picture that whole area and
the warmth and hospitality ofSouth sticks with you, I think.
Daniel Williams (05:18):
It does. Always in your heart. I'm getting a
Johnny Cash vibe here, Jimmie.You've been everywhere, man.
Everywhere I name you've beenthere.
That is so cool. So let's gothrough a little bit of that
healthcare journey and thenwe'll bring us up to the present
time. What got you intohealthcare in the first place?
Is this something you dreamedabout as a kid? Is it something
(05:40):
that came through at college ageor after that?
Where did that come from?
Jimmie Richmond (05:45):
It wasn't on the radar at all. I had moved to
Mississippi and was looking fora job, and I accepted a a
temporary job answering thephone at a surgery center under
construction.
Daniel Williams (05:59):
Okay.
Jimmie Richmond (05:59):
So if you can picture, you know, a building
that does have its walls, doors,and a roof, but nothing else,
there I sat in the middle of aroom with a card table, a chair,
and a phone. Didn't seek it out,but it has been good to me. I
think of those first days there,the administrator had asked me
(06:20):
in between calls to help withtheir policy and procedure
manual. I applied some wordprocessing skills to that
project and completed it inthree days where she was
thinking three, four weeks. Theyliked me.
They saw something in me andpromoted me even to open other
surgery centers. Then my careerover twenty five years
(06:42):
blossomed. I think it's beengood to me in the sense that my
persistence to overcomeobstacles, I believe, and more
for the ability to connect withpeople. Patients, team members,
executives, doctors is what getsme to those connections that
(07:05):
help pull me through the toughstuff.
Daniel Williams (07:07):
Yeah. I would think call centers are kind of
universal, whether you're in thehealthcare field, if you're
working for Verizon or Amazon orwhoever, you're getting people
calling in and sometimes not ina super great mood. How did you
(07:27):
prepare yourself and how did youhandle that kind of being thrown
into the fire and answeringthose phones from people who
maybe they want an answer, butsometimes the answer's
frustrating to them. My firstjob was with one of the phone
companies, Bell South inBirmingham, and I went through
(07:50):
manager training in a callcenter and yeah, that was quite
an experience. So talk aboutyour experience.
What was that like, that sort ofbaptism by fire?
Jimmie Richmond (08:02):
Well, I brought forward my experiences from my
prior career of of hotels
Daniel Williams (08:09):
Okay.
Jimmie Richmond (08:09):
Hospitality, and five years of call center in
in Dallas. So in those callcenters proper, I always got the
customer service positionsbecause nobody wanted to do
that. It was tough stuff. Sothinking of those skills of,
Hey, I hear you. I'm not the onethat can solve this issue, but I
(08:33):
can get it started for you.
And often in the shouting andthe anger, sometimes just have
to let them run it through andthen say, hey, I hear what
you're saying. Try to connect.It's been a reoccurring theme in
my career, making connections.Okay. Temporary stop with me.
(08:55):
I'll get you to where you needto be. Just pulling those things
forward from experience.
Daniel Williams (09:01):
Yeah. So I mentioned that you and I I'll
jump ahead because I think thisconnects the dots here with a
call center. I mentioned earlierthat you and I are in the book
club together. Just for anybody,shameless plug, reach out to me,
dwilliams@mgma.com if you wantto join us. Join Jimmie and me
(09:22):
and a lot of other MGMA membersin there.
And we have really fashioned thebook club in a way where it's a
lot of leadership type books.It's also books that really work
on personal and professionalgrowth. And so I would think a
(09:44):
lot of the things that you'retalking about right here is that
really being able to beempathetic, being a good
listener, being a deep listener,and understanding people's
problems, that has served youwell. Because those are some of
the skill sets that we talkabout in a lot of those books.
Anything you want to share aboutthat?
Because we have really connectedon that with several of our
(10:05):
books here.
Jimmie Richmond (10:07):
If you are not enrolled in participating in
Book Club, it needs to be yourvery next task. Honestly,
connections to other people,hearing their shared experiences
and insights as the book kind ofguides us on these conversations
is so valuable. And thecamaraderie also is amazing.
(10:32):
We've all come to know eachother a bit, and the table that
we sit at always has openchairs. So, yeah, Daniel's
right.
Please consider joining the bookclub.
Daniel Williams (10:43):
Jimmie, thank you again for the shameless plug
in the MGMA book club. ButJimmie, you're speaking the
truth because we have made someincredible connections there.
And I think that is one of thethings it's one of the issues
for practice administrators andhealthcare leaders, that we want
(11:04):
to be a conduit. We want to beable to help solve some of those
problems for the MGMA members.And I have never been in a
product or an opportunity whereI've seen that really grow,
where in January it'll be twoyears with the MGMA Book Club,
(11:24):
and we've got a lot of regulars,and then we got some people that
drop in, drop out, and that'skind of the rule of book clubs.
I think the only thing we don'tdo is have wine bottles next to
us. At least I haven't seen anyvisible. If somebody has it in
their coffee mug, they're hidingit. But we have some great
discussions, a lot ofvulnerability, a lot of people
(11:46):
coming into the discussionswhere they will share, Hey, we
had this problem and this is howwe solved it. And it's kind of
relating to what's going on inthe book we're reading.
Or, Hey, I'm having thisproblem. Has anybody had this?
And can you help me solve that?I mean, that's some of the
discussions we're having there,Jimmie.
Jimmie Richmond (12:07):
And validating your feelings. And I I would
mention too that even if youhaven't completed the book, your
presence is welcomed at thattable to to discuss that.
Daniel Williams (12:18):
Yeah.
Jimmie Richmond (12:19):
It is. It's a it's a wonderful validating
experience.
Daniel Williams (12:23):
Yeah. And making those connections, again,
it's not to be an infomercialabout MGMA, but that's where I
really try to think about it. Weare an association. My
background is people havelearned who have heard the
podcast, come from media. I wasa journalist, a writer for,
gosh, since 1994.
(12:45):
And then I came to MGMA. Stillwearing an editor's hat, but I'm
serving an association. And sowith that said, you can think
about, well, we're a lot ofthings to a lot of people. But
one thing I do like to askpeople is, who are MGMA members,
how'd you hear about it? How'dyou join in the first place?
(13:05):
Tell us your sort of MGMA originstory here, Jimmie.
Jimmie Richmond (13:09):
Oh gosh, reaching way, way back. Early
on, I was closely working withexecutives and practice managers
that often spoke of MGMA. And sobeing curious is like, Well,
that sounds like something I'dlike to get involved in. I was
told, Oh no, that's for theelite, not for you.
Daniel Williams (13:31):
So
Jimmie Richmond (13:33):
later in life, in my mid fifties, I went back
to school and in the courses,this was for public health
administration and policy. Andparticularly in the finance
courses, MGMA came up for thebenchmarking type of exercises.
(13:53):
And so I got a reduced coststudent membership, and that
started the journey where I wasable to attend webinars. And
then fast forward a little bitfurther, you know, still feeling
those messages early in mycareer that, oh, you don't fully
belong here. Yeah.
(14:14):
Could I go to graduate school? Idid it, and I excelled And MGMA
along this journey of going backto school very generous. I
applied for a couple grants andscholarships to help pay for
books here and there. And thatwas significant to me to get
(14:34):
those. They weren't just awards.
They were a vote of confidenceto a person that was trying to
find a place to belong. Sothat's significant, that vote of
confidence. I'm so appreciativeof that.
Daniel Williams (14:49):
Yeah, I love that. That is such a cool story.
If you could pinpoint one thing,what's something in your work
with MGMA, might be thecontinuing ed work you've done,
might be the book club, might besomething else. What's something
you can really pinpoint and go,that's a really cool connection
(15:11):
I made, or that's something thatmade me better in my career. Is
there anything you can point toin that way?
Jimmie Richmond (15:18):
There is. And I'm going to give you a brief
handful.
Daniel Williams (15:20):
Five
Jimmie Richmond (15:21):
things. So certification preparation, prior
to getting fellowship, there'sthe certification and board exam
track. That's significant study.That level set me. Then using
some of the tools, of course,the webinars, data dive to pull
(15:44):
that benchmarking informationout, best practices that come
from MGMA, apply that every day.
Conferences, got my first tasteof a conference in Denver last
year. Wow. Again, there was theconnection, the force of being
together with like mindedpeople. Amazing to stand with
(16:09):
those people. And walking acrossthe stage in recognition of of
getting the fellowship wassignificant.
Reaching back to that voicegoing, oh, you don't really
belong here to, yes, I do. Andlook at the people I'm standing
with. That was remarkable. Andthe Fifth Item is book club.
Honest to goodness.
(16:30):
That is significant to me.
Daniel Williams (16:32):
Yeah. There's so many things, and I'm glad
that you and I can continue towork together. We do the book
club once a month. Now you're onthe It's the Human Resources
Advisory Board. Now I want tojust take a step back for
everybody.
You probably have heard me talkabout this, but you're going to
hear me talk about it a lot.MGMA has gone through and is
(16:56):
going through a pretty majororganizational restructuring
where we want to really connectwith the MGMA members. We want
to provide you with the tools,the training, the development,
everything that you need tocontinue to flourish in your
career. In one way we did thatfor the seven years I've been at
(17:16):
MGMA and the years other editorshave been there, we covered
everything. And what we're doingnow is we're having these
vertical topic areas.
And the one that I'm the senioreditor working with is human
resources and compliance. Andthe reason we're doing that is
(17:38):
it allows us to take a deeperdive into that area. And I
couldn't do that alone. I've gotmy specialist that I work with,
Colleen Luckett. Y'all haveheard her on the Week in Review
podcast over the years.
And we've worked closelytogether in building out a human
resources advisory board. Now,Jimmie, you may be a bit of an
(18:03):
anomaly there. You had mentionedearlier you're on this financial
side, but you raised a hand tovolunteer to be on the human
resources and compliance one. Iasked you about this in an
earlier conversation, but if youdon't mind sharing that with our
listeners here. How does yourwork that financial side, how
(18:25):
does that play?
And what's the role you wannaplay on a human resources
advisory board?
Jimmie Richmond (18:32):
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, first of all, the
volunteer opportunity. I'm alifelong learner. Great place to
spend some of my time withpeople that are looking at the
topic from different points ofview.
And isn't that your stresstesting material, for instance?
Daniel Williams (18:53):
That's
Jimmie Richmond (18:54):
it. You need as many eyes as possible. And
reaching back through myhealthcare career, I've worked
in surgery centers, clinic,billing companies, and this fine
finance perspective alwaystouches compliance and sometimes
the HR. So I've got thoseexperiences from the past and a
(19:17):
view forward from a financepoint of view, which is to
provide the analyst analysis tothe decision makers to make
informed decisions. So itsupports that perfectly and it
gives me a new set of wings, Ithink.
Daniel Williams (19:36):
Yeah, that is so cool. And I'll just I'll put
that out there, everybody. Ifanybody wants to be involved, we
do have these different advisoryboards. We've got a financial
one. We've got a privatepractice one.
We've got the human resourcesand compliance one. And I think
the operations one is the otherone that I hadn't touched on
(19:58):
yet. And we also have one that'sa strategy one that we're
building out as well. So we'vegot some different advisory
boards. So again, as Jimmie wassaying, if you want to get
involved, give back or justcontinue to grow, look at those
volunteer opportunities at MGMA.
In our remaining time, let's seewhat else we want to talk about,
(20:20):
Jimmie, because you and I, whenwe get going, we could just keep
talking and talking. So let'slook at some of the challenges
you're seeing. What's achallenge? Because there are a
lot of challenges in healthcareright now, but you and I had a
conversation about a week or twoago, and I wanted you to just
expand upon that. What's achallenge that you're seeing
(20:40):
that you would like eitherthrough MGMA's lens or just
through healthcare leadershiplens, begin to address and help?
I don't know if we can ever makesome of these problems go away,
but maybe make them a littlesmoother, a little less painful.
Jimmie Richmond (20:59):
I think where I see things around me, both in my
environment, in my near past,and then as a consumer of health
care. Right? Here's, you know,here's what I observed brewing
out there. Patient access,employee and provider retention
(21:19):
and recruitment, and those arethose are intertwined.
Daniel Williams (21:22):
Yeah.
Jimmie Richmond (21:23):
I you know, since COVID, I feel like it's so
difficult to be a patient. Mhmm.It's so difficult to be that
employee that is facing thepublic, you know, at that front
desk or on the phone. It's verydifficult to be a provider, and
you have to manage the marginsto keep your doors open. And so
(21:45):
all of these forces, I think,need to be addressed in a very
compassionate way and evaluatedfor each of those things to
ensure financial viability andaddress those vulnerabilities,
(22:06):
recognizing our humanity andeach other as a patient, work in
the front desk and as a doctor.
I think compassion needs to be apart of our analysis.
Daniel Williams (22:18):
Yeah, I love that. I have one more question.
It's unique to you because ofall the times we've worked
together and met together in thebook club and other places, I
knew that you worked remote, butI figured your practice was in
Greeley. I didn't know it was inPhoenix. So that's a unique
perspective there, and it is away that as practices are having
(22:44):
trouble really getting the rightstaff, being fully staffed,
getting the right people inplace, they're having to look
outside the box.
In the old days, I know when Istarted working my first job in
Birmingham, you had to be inBirmingham. You couldn't live in
(23:07):
Tuscaloosa or Auburn or Atlantaor somewhere, you needed to be
where you worked and go into theoffice every day. A lot of
things are changing in that way.For you to be really connected
with that team, what advicewould you give to our listeners,
whether they're thinking ofhiring people who might be
(23:28):
remote or in a hybrid situationor thinking about doing that
themselves? What's the best bitof advice you'd give our
listeners here to make sure theyget that right?
Jimmie Richmond (23:40):
Have very good tools such as we're using right
now. We use Teams, the MicrosoftTeams to have that connection.
And it actually works out toimprove productivity
substantially. I find that Iwork more.
Daniel Williams (23:58):
Okay.
Jimmie Richmond (23:58):
And I work without interruption. And if I
need to contact someone, therethey are as long as they're
available or I can put a ameeting request on their
schedule, and we can see eachother and collaborate. So this
whole industry of collaborationtools is there. And so that's
(24:19):
your backbone. Right?
That's the the commute that youtake to work is through that.
Now you need to connect withpeople. So be sure that you are
putting on everyone's schedulereoccurring meetings where
you're touching base with eachother. And it's pretty nice to
begin with the niceties of life.Hey, how you doing?
What you got going on? And let'sget into the business that we
(24:43):
need to conduct. So connection,I think it's connection. Through
this is how we get and recruityou know, the Daniel Williams of
the world out there. Right?
Daniel Williams (24:55):
That is true.
Jimmie Richmond (24:56):
That is true.
Daniel Williams (24:57):
I'm blushing, Jimmie. Well, Jimmie Richmond,
Banner Health, I wanna thank youfor joining us on the MGMA
podcast today. Thank you somuch.
Jimmie Richmond (25:06):
So much a pleasure. Thank you, Daniel.
Daniel Williams (25:08):
Yeah. So everybody, we're going to put
some information in the episodeshow notes. I want to give you
an opportunity, if you weren'taware of the volunteer
opportunities, I'm going to putthat out there for you. For the
book club, December, I believeit's going to be December 17,
we're going to meet again. Wejust met yesterday for our
(25:28):
December book.
It's going to be Align the Mind.Align the mind. That may sound
familiar to you because theauthor, Britt Frank, we had
owned our MGMA podcast back inMay. So we're going to talk
about that book. And I thoughtthat around the holiday season,
things can get a littlestressful.
(25:50):
Even though it's an amazingtime, it can be a little
stressful. And this book isreally going to focus on how we
can work with stress, how we canwork with burnout and the
different challenges we havethere. So Align the Mind. And if
you want to join that book club,I'm going to give you a direct
link there as well. And you cango to mgma.com and search book
club.
(26:10):
You can search volunteeropportunities, and you can find
that on the MGMA website. Sountil then, everybody, thank you
so much for being MGMA podcastlisteners.
Well, everyone. I'm Daniel Williams, senior
editor at MGMA and host of theMGMA Podcast Network. We're
really excited. We're gonnastart a new series where we're
talking to MGMA members, andsome of those members might be
on an advisory board that we'vecreated here at MGMA. And this
is our first interview to talkto one of our advisory board
(00:26):
members.
We've got Jimmie Richmond .Jimmie and I go back. We have
been on the MGMA Book Clubtogether. If you've heard me
talk about the Book Clubpreviously, own podcasts. We've
had some of the authors fromthose books own the MGMA podcast
as well.
But Jimmie is also in Colorado.We were just talking prior to
(00:52):
this that we should have hadJimmie come on down to Denver
and meet us here in studio. Wemay do that sometime in 2026. We
love that energy when we havesomebody live. But for now,
let's just welcome Jimmie to theshow.
Jimmie, I just wanted to say,hey, we just were in the book
club yesterday. We spent a goodbit of time talking about the
(01:14):
latest book, but welcome to theshow.
Jimmie Richmond (01:17):
Oh, thank you. Thank you. It's a pleasure.
Daniel Williams (01:20):
Yeah. So you and I have known each other for
at least two years becausethat's when we started the book
club. I can't remember if we metthrough the book club or through
MGMA, but where I wanted tostart then was just to share a
little bit about the practicethat you're in now. And I know
that you're in Greeley,Colorado. It's in Northern
(01:40):
Colorado.
It's pretty darn close to theWyoming border, right? Is that
correct?
Jimmie Richmond (01:45):
It is. Yeah.
Daniel Williams (01:47):
So share with us a little bit about what your
role is and what the practice isthere in Greeley.
Jimmie Richmond (01:53):
Oh, sure. Sure. And I am a virtual worker
working remotely, and I'mcurrently a supervisor and
financial analysis consultantfor the Banner University
Medical Center in Phoenix. Whata dream job to be able to, when
I moved from Phoenix to here, tokeep that. And it's amazing
(02:15):
position.
And specialty, I'm a member offinance, but we specialize and
focus on identifying andrecovering unbilled revenue. And
that's a heavy lift. Right?Right. And so this involves work
in the EMR and a cross sectionwith revenue cycle, revenue
(02:36):
integrity.
My small team looks for the rootcauses of why aren't we billing
everything out. And so there'shard dollars attached to that
work. And it's hard work. It'stedious, often delicate because
we're dealing with providers andexecs and operational managers,
but it is always rewarding.
Daniel Williams (02:58):
Yeah. That is so cool. Now we're going to
touch on a lot of topics today,I'm really excited about this,
but I want to go back tosomething that you and I talked
about. We both have aMississippi connection. Anybody
who hears me do this show says,Where are you from?
Because sometimes when peoplethink South, they'll say, you're
(03:18):
from either they'll lump Texasinto the South, which us true
Southerners don't do, and Texansdon't like that either. They're
gonna know we're from Texas.We're not from the South. But
people will say they think I'mfrom South Carolina or North
Carolina. I go, No, I'm fromMississippi.
You also have a Mississippiconnection. But when I hear you
(03:39):
talk, I don't hear this. Haveyou gone through training or
something? How do you not have aSouthern accent?
Jimmie Richmond (03:46):
Well, I lived there for fifteen years of my
adult life. So I came fromColorado. Interestingly lived
ten plus years in Texas, so Iknow of what you speak. Texas is
its own country.
Daniel Williams (03:59):
That's right.
Jimmie Richmond (04:01):
But when I get tired, I start to my r's become
very pronounced. They sound likea's.
Daniel Williams (04:08):
Yep.
Jimmie Richmond (04:08):
So like the word Tyler, you you would go,
oh, I gotcha. So I have to workon proper pronunciation.
Daniel Williams (04:17):
Yeah. Well, is really cool. Yeah, I just spent
the past week in Alabama.Somehow I grew up in
Mississippi, but my family, myparents and my siblings and some
nieces and nephews andgrandnieces and nephews all live
in Birmingham now. They justsort of all wound up there,
(04:39):
which is really interesting.
I spent almost a week inAlabama. So I know of what you
speak, if I get around, if I'mtired or if I'm around my
siblings and my parents, then itstarts rubbing off on me. I may
even sound for everybody alittle more Southern in this
(05:00):
episode than I normally do, butit's great having you on the
show, Jimmie.
Jimmie Richmond (05:05):
I appreciate that. And I've lived in
Birmingham for two years, so Ican picture that whole area and
the warmth and hospitality ofSouth sticks with you, I think.
Daniel Williams (05:18):
It does. Always in your heart. I'm getting a
Johnny Cash vibe here, Jimmie.You've been everywhere, man.
Everywhere I name you've beenthere.
That is so cool. So let's gothrough a little bit of that
healthcare journey and thenwe'll bring us up to the present
time. What got you intohealthcare in the first place?
Is this something you dreamedabout as a kid? Is it something
(05:40):
that came through at college ageor after that?
Where did that come from?
Jimmie Richmond (05:45):
It wasn't on the radar at all. I had moved to
Mississippi and was looking fora job, and I accepted a a
temporary job answering thephone at a surgery center under
construction.
Daniel Williams (05:59):
Okay.
Jimmie Richmond (05:59):
So if you can picture, you know, a building
that does have its walls, doors,and a roof, but nothing else,
there I sat in the middle of aroom with a card table, a chair,
and a phone. Didn't seek it out,but it has been good to me. I
think of those first days there,the administrator had asked me
(06:20):
in between calls to help withtheir policy and procedure
manual. I applied some wordprocessing skills to that
project and completed it inthree days where she was
thinking three, four weeks. Theyliked me.
They saw something in me andpromoted me even to open other
surgery centers. Then my careerover twenty five years
(06:42):
blossomed. I think it's beengood to me in the sense that my
persistence to overcomeobstacles, I believe, and more
for the ability to connect withpeople. Patients, team members,
executives, doctors is what getsme to those connections that
(07:05):
help pull me through the toughstuff.
Daniel Williams (07:07):
Yeah. I would think call centers are kind of
universal, whether you're in thehealthcare field, if you're
working for Verizon or Amazon orwhoever, you're getting people
calling in and sometimes not ina super great mood. How did you
(07:27):
prepare yourself and how did youhandle that kind of being thrown
into the fire and answeringthose phones from people who
maybe they want an answer, butsometimes the answer's
frustrating to them. My firstjob was with one of the phone
companies, Bell South inBirmingham, and I went through
(07:50):
manager training in a callcenter and yeah, that was quite
an experience. So talk aboutyour experience.
What was that like, that sort ofbaptism by fire?
Jimmie Richmond (08:02):
Well, I brought forward my experiences from my
prior career of of hotels
Daniel Williams (08:09):
Okay.
Jimmie Richmond (08:09):
Hospitality, and five years of call center in
in Dallas. So in those callcenters proper, I always got the
customer service positionsbecause nobody wanted to do
that. It was tough stuff. Sothinking of those skills of,
Hey, I hear you. I'm not the onethat can solve this issue, but I
(08:33):
can get it started for you.
And often in the shouting andthe anger, sometimes just have
to let them run it through andthen say, hey, I hear what
you're saying. Try to connect.It's been a reoccurring theme in
my career, making connections.Okay. Temporary stop with me.
(08:55):
I'll get you to where you needto be. Just pulling those things
forward from experience.
Daniel Williams (09:01):
Yeah. So I mentioned that you and I I'll
jump ahead because I think thisconnects the dots here with a
call center. I mentioned earlierthat you and I are in the book
club together. Just for anybody,shameless plug, reach out to me,
dwilliams@mgma.com if you wantto join us. Join Jimmie and me
(09:22):
and a lot of other MGMA membersin there.
And we have really fashioned thebook club in a way where it's a
lot of leadership type books.It's also books that really work
on personal and professionalgrowth. And so I would think a
(09:44):
lot of the things that you'retalking about right here is that
really being able to beempathetic, being a good
listener, being a deep listener,and understanding people's
problems, that has served youwell. Because those are some of
the skill sets that we talkabout in a lot of those books.
Anything you want to share aboutthat?
Because we have really connectedon that with several of our
(10:05):
books here.
Jimmie Richmond (10:07):
If you are not enrolled in participating in
Book Club, it needs to be yourvery next task. Honestly,
connections to other people,hearing their shared experiences
and insights as the book kind ofguides us on these conversations
is so valuable. And thecamaraderie also is amazing.
(10:32):
We've all come to know eachother a bit, and the table that
we sit at always has openchairs. So, yeah, Daniel's
right.
Please consider joining the bookclub.
Daniel Williams (10:43):
Jimmie, thank you again for the shameless plug
in the MGMA book club. ButJimmie, you're speaking the
truth because we have made someincredible connections there.
And I think that is one of thethings it's one of the issues
for practice administrators andhealthcare leaders, that we want
(11:04):
to be a conduit. We want to beable to help solve some of those
problems for the MGMA members.And I have never been in a
product or an opportunity whereI've seen that really grow,
where in January it'll be twoyears with the MGMA Book Club,
(11:24):
and we've got a lot of regulars,and then we got some people that
drop in, drop out, and that'skind of the rule of book clubs.
I think the only thing we don'tdo is have wine bottles next to
us. At least I haven't seen anyvisible. If somebody has it in
their coffee mug, they're hidingit. But we have some great
discussions, a lot ofvulnerability, a lot of people
(11:46):
coming into the discussionswhere they will share, Hey, we
had this problem and this is howwe solved it. And it's kind of
relating to what's going on inthe book we're reading.
Or, Hey, I'm having thisproblem. Has anybody had this?
And can you help me solve that?I mean, that's some of the
discussions we're having there,Jimmie.
Jimmie Richmond (12:07):
And validating your feelings. And I I would
mention too that even if youhaven't completed the book, your
presence is welcomed at thattable to to discuss that.
Daniel Williams (12:18):
Yeah.
Jimmie Richmond (12:19):
It is. It's a it's a wonderful validating
experience.
Daniel Williams (12:23):
Yeah. And making those connections, again,
it's not to be an infomercialabout MGMA, but that's where I
really try to think about it. Weare an association. My
background is people havelearned who have heard the
podcast, come from media. I wasa journalist, a writer for,
gosh, since 1994.
(12:45):
And then I came to MGMA. Stillwearing an editor's hat, but I'm
serving an association. And sowith that said, you can think
about, well, we're a lot ofthings to a lot of people. But
one thing I do like to askpeople is, who are MGMA members,
how'd you hear about it? How'dyou join in the first place?
(13:05):
Tell us your sort of MGMA originstory here, Jimmie.
Jimmie Richmond (13:09):
Oh gosh, reaching way, way back. Early
on, I was closely working withexecutives and practice managers
that often spoke of MGMA. And sobeing curious is like, Well,
that sounds like something I'dlike to get involved in. I was
told, Oh no, that's for theelite, not for you.
Daniel Williams (13:31):
So
Jimmie Richmond (13:33):
later in life, in my mid fifties, I went back
to school and in the courses,this was for public health
administration and policy. Andparticularly in the finance
courses, MGMA came up for thebenchmarking type of exercises.
(13:53):
And so I got a reduced coststudent membership, and that
started the journey where I wasable to attend webinars. And
then fast forward a little bitfurther, you know, still feeling
those messages early in mycareer that, oh, you don't fully
belong here. Yeah.
(14:14):
Could I go to graduate school? Idid it, and I excelled And MGMA
along this journey of going backto school very generous. I
applied for a couple grants andscholarships to help pay for
books here and there. And thatwas significant to me to get
(14:34):
those. They weren't just awards.
They were a vote of confidenceto a person that was trying to
find a place to belong. Sothat's significant, that vote of
confidence. I'm so appreciativeof that.
Daniel Williams (14:49):
Yeah, I love that. That is such a cool story.
If you could pinpoint one thing,what's something in your work
with MGMA, might be thecontinuing ed work you've done,
might be the book club, might besomething else. What's something
you can really pinpoint and go,that's a really cool connection
(15:11):
I made, or that's something thatmade me better in my career. Is
there anything you can point toin that way?
Jimmie Richmond (15:18):
There is. And I'm going to give you a brief
handful.
Daniel Williams (15:20):
Five
Jimmie Richmond (15:21):
things. So certification preparation, prior
to getting fellowship, there'sthe certification and board exam
track. That's significant study.That level set me. Then using
some of the tools, of course,the webinars, data dive to pull
(15:44):
that benchmarking informationout, best practices that come
from MGMA, apply that every day.
Conferences, got my first tasteof a conference in Denver last
year. Wow. Again, there was theconnection, the force of being
together with like mindedpeople. Amazing to stand with
(16:09):
those people. And walking acrossthe stage in recognition of of
getting the fellowship wassignificant.
Reaching back to that voicegoing, oh, you don't really
belong here to, yes, I do. Andlook at the people I'm standing
with. That was remarkable. Andthe Fifth Item is book club.
Honest to goodness.
(16:30):
That is significant to me.
Daniel Williams (16:32):
Yeah. There's so many things, and I'm glad
that you and I can continue towork together. We do the book
club once a month. Now you're onthe It's the Human Resources
Advisory Board. Now I want tojust take a step back for
everybody.
You probably have heard me talkabout this, but you're going to
hear me talk about it a lot.MGMA has gone through and is
(16:56):
going through a pretty majororganizational restructuring
where we want to really connectwith the MGMA members. We want
to provide you with the tools,the training, the development,
everything that you need tocontinue to flourish in your
career. In one way we did thatfor the seven years I've been at
(17:16):
MGMA and the years other editorshave been there, we covered
everything. And what we're doingnow is we're having these
vertical topic areas.
And the one that I'm the senioreditor working with is human
resources and compliance. Andthe reason we're doing that is
(17:38):
it allows us to take a deeperdive into that area. And I
couldn't do that alone. I've gotmy specialist that I work with,
Colleen Luckett. Y'all haveheard her on the Week in Review
podcast over the years.
And we've worked closelytogether in building out a human
resources advisory board. Now,Jimmie, you may be a bit of an
(18:03):
anomaly there. You had mentionedearlier you're on this financial
side, but you raised a hand tovolunteer to be on the human
resources and compliance one. Iasked you about this in an
earlier conversation, but if youdon't mind sharing that with our
listeners here. How does yourwork that financial side, how
(18:25):
does that play?
And what's the role you wannaplay on a human resources
advisory board?
Jimmie Richmond (18:32):
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, first of all, the
volunteer opportunity. I'm alifelong learner. Great place to
spend some of my time withpeople that are looking at the
topic from different points ofview.
And isn't that your stresstesting material, for instance?
Daniel Williams (18:53):
That's
Jimmie Richmond (18:54):
it. You need as many eyes as possible. And
reaching back through myhealthcare career, I've worked
in surgery centers, clinic,billing companies, and this fine
finance perspective alwaystouches compliance and sometimes
the HR. So I've got thoseexperiences from the past and a
(19:17):
view forward from a financepoint of view, which is to
provide the analyst analysis tothe decision makers to make
informed decisions. So itsupports that perfectly and it
gives me a new set of wings, Ithink.
Daniel Williams (19:36):
Yeah, that is so cool. And I'll just I'll put
that out there, everybody. Ifanybody wants to be involved, we
do have these different advisoryboards. We've got a financial
one. We've got a privatepractice one.
We've got the human resourcesand compliance one. And I think
the operations one is the otherone that I hadn't touched on
(19:58):
yet. And we also have one that'sa strategy one that we're
building out as well. So we'vegot some different advisory
boards. So again, as Jimmie wassaying, if you want to get
involved, give back or justcontinue to grow, look at those
volunteer opportunities at MGMA.
In our remaining time, let's seewhat else we want to talk about,
(20:20):
Jimmie, because you and I, whenwe get going, we could just keep
talking and talking. So let'slook at some of the challenges
you're seeing. What's achallenge? Because there are a
lot of challenges in healthcareright now, but you and I had a
conversation about a week or twoago, and I wanted you to just
expand upon that. What's achallenge that you're seeing
(20:40):
that you would like eitherthrough MGMA's lens or just
through healthcare leadershiplens, begin to address and help?
I don't know if we can ever makesome of these problems go away,
but maybe make them a littlesmoother, a little less painful.
Jimmie Richmond (20:59):
I think where I see things around me, both in my
environment, in my near past,and then as a consumer of health
care. Right? Here's, you know,here's what I observed brewing
out there. Patient access,employee and provider retention
(21:19):
and recruitment, and those arethose are intertwined.
Daniel Williams (21:22):
Yeah.
Jimmie Richmond (21:23):
I you know, since COVID, I feel like it's so
difficult to be a patient. Mhmm.It's so difficult to be that
employee that is facing thepublic, you know, at that front
desk or on the phone. It's verydifficult to be a provider, and
you have to manage the marginsto keep your doors open. And so
(21:45):
all of these forces, I think,need to be addressed in a very
compassionate way and evaluatedfor each of those things to
ensure financial viability andaddress those vulnerabilities,
(22:06):
recognizing our humanity andeach other as a patient, work in
the front desk and as a doctor.
I think compassion needs to be apart of our analysis.
Daniel Williams (22:18):
Yeah, I love that. I have one more question.
It's unique to you because ofall the times we've worked
together and met together in thebook club and other places, I
knew that you worked remote, butI figured your practice was in
Greeley. I didn't know it was inPhoenix. So that's a unique
perspective there, and it is away that as practices are having
(22:44):
trouble really getting the rightstaff, being fully staffed,
getting the right people inplace, they're having to look
outside the box.
In the old days, I know when Istarted working my first job in
Birmingham, you had to be inBirmingham. You couldn't live in
(23:07):
Tuscaloosa or Auburn or Atlantaor somewhere, you needed to be
where you worked and go into theoffice every day. A lot of
things are changing in that way.For you to be really connected
with that team, what advicewould you give to our listeners,
whether they're thinking ofhiring people who might be
(23:28):
remote or in a hybrid situationor thinking about doing that
themselves? What's the best bitof advice you'd give our
listeners here to make sure theyget that right?
Jimmie Richmond (23:40):
Have very good tools such as we're using right
now. We use Teams, the MicrosoftTeams to have that connection.
And it actually works out toimprove productivity
substantially. I find that Iwork more.
Daniel Williams (23:58):
Okay.
Jimmie Richmond (23:58):
And I work without interruption. And if I
need to contact someone, therethey are as long as they're
available or I can put a ameeting request on their
schedule, and we can see eachother and collaborate. So this
whole industry of collaborationtools is there. And so that's
(24:19):
your backbone. Right?
That's the the commute that youtake to work is through that.
Now you need to connect withpeople. So be sure that you are
putting on everyone's schedulereoccurring meetings where
you're touching base with eachother. And it's pretty nice to
begin with the niceties of life.Hey, how you doing?
What you got going on? And let'sget into the business that we
(24:43):
need to conduct. So connection,I think it's connection. Through
this is how we get and recruityou know, the Daniel Williams of
the world out there. Right?
Daniel Williams (24:55):
That is true.
Jimmie Richmond (24:56):
That is true.
Daniel Williams (24:57):
I'm blushing, Jimmie. Well, Jimmie Richmond,
Banner Health, I wanna thank youfor joining us on the MGMA
podcast today. Thank you somuch.
Jimmie Richmond (25:06):
So much a pleasure. Thank you, Daniel.
Daniel Williams (25:08):
Yeah. So everybody, we're going to put
some information in the episodeshow notes. I want to give you
an opportunity, if you weren'taware of the volunteer
opportunities, I'm going to putthat out there for you. For the
book club, December, I believeit's going to be December 17,
we're going to meet again. Wejust met yesterday for our
(25:28):
December book.
It's going to be Align the Mind.Align the mind. That may sound
familiar to you because theauthor, Britt Frank, we had
owned our MGMA podcast back inMay. So we're going to talk
about that book. And I thoughtthat around the holiday season,
things can get a littlestressful.
(25:50):
Even though it's an amazingtime, it can be a little
stressful. And this book isreally going to focus on how we
can work with stress, how we canwork with burnout and the
different challenges we havethere. So Align the Mind. And if
you want to join that book club,I'm going to give you a direct
link there as well. And you cango to mgma.com and search book
club.
(26:10):
You can search volunteeropportunities, and you can find
that on the MGMA website. Sountil then, everybody, thank you
so much for being MGMA podcastlisteners.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com