November 26, 2025 • 29 mins
In this episode of the MGMA Insights Podcast, Sr. Editor and host Daniel Williams speaks with Allen Alongi, MBA, PMP, SSGB, Physician Practice Manager at Northside Hospital in Marietta, Georgia, and one of the newly appointed members of MGMA’s Human Resources and Compliance Advisory Board. Allen shares his journey from patient to healthcare leader; his passion for writing, reading, and mentorship; and strategies for building resilient teams in a challenging healthcare environment.
This conversation offers practical solutions for medical practice leaders and MGMA members looking to strengthen their teams, improve operations, and foster professional growth.
Key Takeaways:
- 01:21 Allen’s Role at Northside Hospital
Learn how Allen oversees multiple clinics, manages P&L, and drives strategic initiatives focused on retention and patient experience. - 04:42 A Personal Healthcare Journey
Allen’s diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes at age 14 and how it inspired his career in healthcare leadership. - 06:08 Career Path & Lessons Learned
From academic medicine to physician practice management, Allen shares insights on staffing challenges and operational excellence. - 09:05 Connecting with MGMA
How MGMA resources and certification programs became a cornerstone for Allen’s professional development and decision-making. - 11:05 Writing for MGMA
Allen discusses his published articles on mentorship, feedback loops, and practical clinic solutions—and why writing matters for leadership. - 12:36 Allen's Passion for Writing Stemmed from his Love of Reading
Allen talks classic literature and various writing roles throughout his career. - 19:28 Book Recommendations & Lifelong Learning
Allen and Daniel talk about some leadership reads, plus details on MGMA’s book club for members. - 25:07 Maximizing Mentor-Mentee Programs
Actionable advice for getting the most out of mentorship programs, including preparation, engagement, and growth strategies.
Resources Mentioned:
- Allen’s MGMA Articles
- Other MGMA Resources
- MGMA Certification - Demonstrate your skills and earn a recognized certificate of mastery.
- MGMA Mentor Program - New and improved!
- Books Discussed
- The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck
- Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
- Align the Mind by Britt Frank
- Shatterproof by Tasha Eurich
- The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
- Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Daniel Williams (00:02):
Well, hi, everyone. I'm Daniel Williams,
senior editor at MGMA and hostof the MGMA Podcast Network. We
are back with another interviewand recording with one of our
MGMA members. And today we'rejoined by Alan Alonji. Alan is
an MGMA member.
He also is newly appointed toour Human Resources and
(00:26):
Compliance Advisory Board. Weare really excited about that.
You're probably going to hear metalk about that advisory board a
lot over the next year becauseit's new and it's something that
we want to do so we can take aneven deeper dive in creating
content, products, training, anddevelopment for the MGMA
(00:47):
members. So with all that said,Alan, welcome to the show.
Allen Alongi (00:52):
Thank you. It's, it is a pleasure to be on, a big
fan of your podcast as well. Soto be on it is actually kind of
full circle. So thank you.
Daniel Williams (00:59):
That is so cool. Those are the best kind of
guests. Get people who arelistening to the show and
enjoying it and know what we'retalking about. We were talking
off line and I heard you talkingto our producer James, talking
about where you are and whereyou've been. So remind me, you
and I just talked a week or twoago and I want to make sure I
got it right.
Where are you stationed? Wheredo you live right now?
Allen Alongi (01:20):
Yeah, I'm actually in Marietta, Georgia. Working
with Northside Hospital as aphysician practice manager for
the physician enterprise. Soreally within that role,
overseeing a portfolio ofclinics within the Atlanta
market. Know, wear a lot ofdifferent hats, but day to day
in the clinics acting as amentor for our coordinators who
(01:44):
are our managers of the clinics,overseeing operations, oversight
of P and L as well. So really alot of everything, just like you
will you typically experiencewithin operations.
One of the good things that Ireally enjoy about this job
recently is just more of the theautonomy to complete projects as
needed. A lot of those aredriven by our strategic
(02:05):
initiatives and those are mainlyright now retention and patient
experience. So working on thoseand just plugging away and just
doing what I can to create abetter opportunity for our
patients to get in and todevelop some of our coordinators
at the clinics.
Daniel Williams (02:20):
Okay. I'm going to take some of maybe you and
some of our listeners back. Butwhen I was growing up in the
80s, used to watch pro wrestlingthat was beamed out Atlanta. And
big one of draws there was BobArmstrong, who was from
Marietta. That's how I knowMarietta.
(02:41):
He was also a fireman. They usedto talk about that, that he was
an active fireman and aprofessional wrestler.
Allen Alongi (02:47):
I didn't know that.
Daniel Williams (02:48):
Yeah. But, you know, some of the big stars
there. I know Nature Boy, RicFlair, he was huge back then
when I was watching as a kid. Hestill I think he wrestled a
couple of years ago or recently.Was.
Allen Alongi (03:03):
No. No. Definitely. I remember the WWE
Monday nights, and those used tobe a thing back back growing up.
Daniel Williams (03:09):
Yeah. That's fantastic. So are you you're
pretty new to Marietta inGeorgia. Is that correct?
Allen Alongi (03:15):
Yeah. Actually, a year and a month. Been here with
Northside. Was in Houston forabout a year and a month as well
before that, and then NewOrleans all times before that.
Daniel Williams (03:27):
Okay. And you grew up in New Orleans. Is that
correct?
Allen Alongi (03:30):
Yes, sir. Yeah.
Daniel Williams (03:30):
Okay. Yeah, I've got a lot of family. My
aunt and uncle, they both havepassed away, they would be close
to 100 now. But they were in NewOrleans, so we used to visit
there. I've still got theirkids.
They were my cousins. They'rein, I think, Metairie there in
New Orleans. And I've got abrother there as well. What part
(03:53):
of New Orleans did you grow upin?
Allen Alongi (03:55):
Yes, right outside. My dad lived uptown. He
was Orleans police officer forthirty My mother as well lived
uptown, but they moved to theMetairie Harahan area. Not too
far from Metairie at all, butyeah, I also miss it as well. I
mean I love the opportunity hereand I would never trade Marriott
in.
It's this amazing place. But Ido miss the food. That's a tough
(04:20):
one.
Daniel Williams (04:21):
The food's the best. The food's the best there.
It's so good. Well we're so gladyou're here. So what I'm doing
is we're just having deeperconversations with our MGMA
members to really understandtheir story.
So talk a little bit about thathealthcare journey. How'd you
get interested in it in thefirst place?
Allen Alongi (04:42):
Sure. A couple of different things happened, but
the main thing for me was when Iwas 14, I was actually diagnosed
with Type I Diabetes. And kindof a really kind of a critical
event that got me there whereunfortunately I went into a coma
for a few days, woke up, was inthe children's hospital, and
didn't know what was going on.But from that point on, was a
(05:03):
lot of interactions withneurologists, with
endocrinologists, physicaltherapists for a whole journey
until I got out of the hospital.Then of course, subsequently
following up with those thingsmore regularly where I was
forced into health care if youreally think about it.
But from that standpoint, I'vealways kind of been a leader in
what I do. I play rugby as wellas you know in my current
(05:25):
professional career. I've alwaysfelt that desire to do as much
as possible with that ability.And at first I started in
hospitality in New Orleans.Right?
It's the lifeblood there. Then Imade a decision after I really
just started thinking criticallyabout not only job security but
then about what I could do andwhat I could offer. So then I
(05:45):
jumped into a little bit on theI worked with American Diabetes
Association as a project managerironically throwing on the tour
de cures as well as the bigevents that they had within the
South Louisiana market. Fromthere I actually transitioned
over into the academic medicineside with LSU Health in New
Orleans where I was working as adepartment coordinator for the
Cardiovascular Center ofExcellence and then from there
(06:08):
went over to a residencycoordinator with general surgery
and critical care fellowship. Sothat was the experience that got
my mind thinking even furtherabout where I wanted to go with
health care and having a lot ofsurgeons on our residency team,
going to the actual hospital andseeing them in action, I was
(06:29):
like, this is where I need tobe.
I don't need to be behind thisdesk. And that is what kind of
drove me to get some morecertifications to drive myself
to be more marketable for thosetypes of roles. Unfortunately,
ended up in a role with HCA atTulane. I was there for about
two and a half years overseeingthe Tulane Institute of Sports
Medicine, which was an absoluteanimal. Exposure, if you're
(06:53):
asking what did you get in thatfirst I learned it all.
I think in that experience,learning to deal with providers,
learning to deal with the insand outs of how things work,
learning how to deal withstaffing. And obviously staffing
is the crux of a lot of ourchallenges. So that experience
was probably one of the best ofmy careers and reinforced that I
(07:15):
am where I wanted to be. Fromthere I actually kind of
branched out a bit, left thehome, wanted to find more
opportunities that may have notbeen available there. So I ended
up as a director of operationsfor an allergy and ENT
organization out in Houston.
Another great experience wasthere about a year and a month.
I had some real high levelexperience as far as opening de
(07:36):
novo clinics, bringing on newproviders as well, and just
really expanding the bandwidthof access for that group. And
then from there, you know, ourdream, I think I had mentioned
it last week, was we alwayswanted to live near the
mountains. So you know westarted looking out and we're
not quite there but we're closeenough. So we looked to
(07:58):
Northside and actually aheadhunter group had reached out
to me because I was showing someinterest, the rest is history.
So now Northside's just been agreat organization, the best
I've ever been a part of. Youknow, they're really focused on
retention, and I think that's abig thing, not only for our
frontline staff, but formanagers as well who who want to
(08:19):
actually grow. That's that's allI want to do is grow. So I'm in
a good spot now.
Daniel Williams (08:25):
That is incredible. What a great story,
and it sounds like you've gottena real variety of opportunities.
It's just not exactly areplication of the same thing.
You've really branched out. Oneof the things you did years ago,
I guess, or you'd have to tellme how long ago, but you
connected with MGMA.
I'm always curious about that.When we do talk to an MGMA
(08:47):
member, what was the gateway?How'd you hear about MGMA? When
was that introduction made?
Allen Alongi (08:53):
Yeah. So ironically, in the last role I
was in, the group was thinkinglike, how can we get our
managers and directors to alevel where every single facet
of the industry is somethingthat they're familiar with? So
as a director of operations, youknow, I've had a lot of lived
experiences in the roles, right,that kind of taught me what to
(09:14):
do and when to do it. But thenonce they introduced me to NGMA
and I started taking a look, Iwas like, wait a second. I do a
lot of this stuff already.
And and actually, this is thestuff that I want to learn more
of.
Daniel Williams (09:25):
Yeah.
Allen Alongi (09:25):
So they purchased the, you know, the initial ACMP
package for me. Okay. So fromthere, I just started reading
the book, and I was like, theseare a lot of parallels here. And
then ironically, right, youknow, how it aligns with what I
want to do and where I want togrow, I think that, you know,
looking not just at thecertification but what MGMA has
otherwise. Now that's one of mymain sources when I'm looking
(09:47):
for insight articles, when I'mlooking for data to to, you
know, support decision making orjust primarily looking for any
kind of trends or evolvingtechnologies that we might not
be using that we could be.
And that is just it's a breadthof knowledge. It's great to know
that something like MGMA exists,especially when you didn't at
first because it opens a lot ofopportunities. And, furthermore,
(10:09):
you I promote MGMA all the timeto my manager team. So every we
had our manager meeting thismorning, and I always leave them
with an article to take awayjust so we can learn a little
more. So we're growing.
So we're not just growingstagnant with what we're doing
day to day. And MGA has been aterrific resource for that.
Daniel Williams (10:26):
That's fantastic. And the way you and I
met, we put out a volunteeropportunity for the Human
Resources and ComplianceAdvisory Board, And we connected
that way because there are thosevolunteer opportunities where
you can go and give back, thatsort of thing. Now remind me,
because you and I did talk, butthen I talked to 10 other
(10:48):
advisory board members and someof the conversations are mixing
together. Had you written somearticles for MGMA as well? Tell
us about that if you did.
Allen Alongi (10:59):
Yeah. This past year actually I wrote three
different articles. They wereinside articles. You know, I
started looking ahead andthinking about what I can do
more to contribute to the spaceand with what knowledge I had.
So I did release a coupledifferent articles.
My most recent one was one morefocused on the mentee journey
(11:19):
and kind of guiding with thathow you interact with your
mentor, what you're going to getout of that mentorship and how
you can apply it to your futuregrowth. Some others have been
more about feedback loops, howwe really value the voice of the
patient, but we might undervaluethe voice of the employee. So
using those two together to kindof come to an agreement on a
(11:41):
decision what should be done,that has been something that
I've really kind of beenthinking about. I was happy to
get that on paper. And then someothers are more practical.
My other article is aboutpractical solutions more or less
in the clinics that weexperience day to day. So like
what is it where staffing iscompletely overburdened by one
task and they can't do somethingelse, and just focusing on tools
and tips on how to fix that in arealistic environment. So
(12:05):
whether it's centralized refillprescription pools or whether
it's cross training or thingslike that that are really going
to make your job easier. I justwanted to, you know, write that
up and kind of see if anyone gotany value out of it. It looks
like MGMA has and I reallyappreciate it.
You know, I still gotta wait toget that magazine in the box in
my office, but I'll let my wifehandle that. But it's been
(12:27):
great. Yeah. And you you bothhave all been very, very
welcoming on that and veryappreciative. And, Since then,
it seems like something I'mgoing to make a regular thing.
Daniel Williams (12:36):
That's cool. Talk about the writing, because
not everybody wants to writearticles. Is that something
you've always enjoyed doing,being a writer as well, or where
did that come about?
Allen Alongi (12:48):
Yeah. If I could choose my dream job, I would be
an author. You know, I startedreading when I was way younger,
you know, five, six, and thenreally started getting into
really just more classicalliterature. And, you know,
something that I really, reallyadmire is the old classics. You
know, my favorite, and I quotedit in the last article I wrote,
of course, is the "Count ofMonte Cristo."
(13:10):
For me, I've always thought tomyself, like, I feel like I have
something inside of me that Ican put on paper. Like I feel
it, but I don't maybe have itcontained yet. So I really read
a lot and absorbed a lot at ayoung age. Then for me, it just
I just started finding myselfwriting more. And, you know, I
really kind of just try andpivot off of experiences I have
(13:31):
in life.
I haven't read anything morethan what you've seen now with
the articles, but in my previousroles, I was writing press
releases for the New OrleansConvention and Visitors Bureau.
I was also releasing somearticles for LSU Health as well.
So that being in thatprofessional setting got my
wheels spinning a little bitmore. And, you know, this has
been more of an open, more justlike feature pieces, which I
(13:54):
really enjoy too. There's notreally many guardrails on it.
It's just give us what you got.But, yeah, I think I think my in
my youth, just reading a lot andjust reading really religiously
was was something that I alwaysenjoyed. And I think that's what
carried over to me wanting to towrite as much.
Daniel Williams (14:08):
I'm trying to remember. Is there was there a
connection then? Because Ihaven't been privy to reading
your article yet. Is theresomething in there about mentors
or mentees or something that youpulled from that where you
thought it really made aconnection?
Allen Alongi (14:23):
Absolutely. The main connection was Edmond
Dantes and Abbé . So when hegoes to prison, he of course
meets his his what was the word?Unserendipitous or serendipitous
cellmate who essentially was inthere. They're all political
prisoners.
They were innocent but they wereall together. And from there, he
(14:46):
the aide took him under hiswing. He taught him philosophy.
He taught him languages. Hetaught him mathematics, science,
everything that he didn't have.
That in that journey, of coursebeing in prison, that's the
irony of it, right? He'slearning all this stuff in a
place where, you know, dreams goto die essentially. So from
there, and Abbé introduced him,he grew to trust him. Then he
said, you know, I do have thistreasure map, right? That was
(15:08):
like one of the last few things.
And so with all that experienceand Edmond being a receptive
mentee, being the key there,actually absorbing and wanting
to learn, he wrote his owndestiny. And I think that's such
a really strong parallel, and Ilove that it has it happens to
be in the kind of Monte Cristobecause I love the book. But,
you know, bringing that bringingthat, you know, example over
(15:30):
into the article, I think,really helps it tie it together.
And anybody can take a read or alook at the movie and see
exactly what I'm talking about.But I think it's just that, you
know, that forced companionshipthey had ended up changing the
course of his life.
So that was really strong forme.
Daniel Williams (15:48):
Yeah, I'm going into my memory banks because
I've read that, and I've alsoread The Man and the Iron Mask.
And so I'm getting the two I'mgoing to have to pull up both
books and read about them justto clarify them in my mind. So
I'm so glad that you've openedthat door for me. I've been
going back this year and readinga lot of the classics, and so
(16:09):
it's been really cool. So I didwant to follow-up and ask you,
is there a favorite author ortwo that you just love or want
to recommend to anybody here?
Allen Alongi (16:18):
Yeah. I mean, Alexander Dumas, who wrote that,
is great. He also did "ThreeMusketeers," which I like as
well. Not a more classical one,but one series I really loved
growing up was Lemony Snicket's"A Series of
Unfortunate Events." Kinda had alittle parallels.
I had two brothers. They werethree kids together, and they
went through a lot of, like,troubles in their youth, which
we did have in my in my life. SoI really clung on to that. I was
(16:41):
like, look at this journey.Like, where are they going?
So I really enjoyed them. Youknow, besides that, I mean, just
putting me on the spot. Classicsthat I can think of Stephen
King. I've always been a fan.I'm not too horror not not too
associated with the horrorgenre, but it really has a way
of storytelling that just reallythat really just gets you
(17:02):
captivated.
And another big one would beThomas Wolfe, "A Homeward
Angel." A very strong Americanstream of conscious thought and
writing. That's kind of thestuff that you know, before you
write, you're thinking aboutwhat to write. And then this guy
put it down in such a geniusway. I was like, I need to read
more of this.
So those are some off the top ofmy head. There's definitely a
(17:23):
few more but those are some ofmy favorites.
Daniel Williams (17:25):
Oh that's wonderful. That is wonderful.
Yeah, I have this quote from theshort story writer, Raymond
Carver. He was asked about whohis influences were and he said,
Well, I really like a lot ofwriters. Two people, you think
about Thomas Wolfe, he would addto the story, put his original
(17:50):
story down, and then he wouldkeep adding words and adding
words and adding words.
But then he also compared to F.Scott Fitzgerald, who would just
take out till every single wordcounted that was left in there,
like in "The Great Gatsby," youknow that every word is in there
for a reason. And Thomas Wolfe,yes, it is very Very expansive
(18:14):
is the exact word I was going touse. There's so much. And then
Carver, for anybody who readhim, he clearly was known for
being a minimalist.
He wrote short stories in the70s and 80s. And so there's all
kinds of writing. And so it's socool to be able to do that. I
did want to ask you, you may notknow, but we do have an MGMA
(18:35):
book club. So these aren'tclassics.
These are leadership books, butwe have really cool discussions
about the book. You and I canconnect offline, but honestly,
you could go to mgma.com and youcould just type "book club" in
there and it would show up. Butfor everybody listening, because
(18:56):
we've had a book discussion now,and this is what we like to do,
we like to go kind of off thetangent of the guest and really
connect with them in a certainway. And we meet the third
Wednesday of each month, unlessthere's a holiday or something
comes up. But we just had a bookclub meeting yesterday, and the
(19:21):
book was Shatterproof by TashaUrich.
It's a leadership book aboutresilience and how to really
build resilience, but also evengo beyond that. She even
challenges the idea of maybe ourresilience for some people gets
up to the level where we can'tbe any more resilient and we
(19:41):
need other types of tools toreally combat the chaos she
talks about there. So that'sreally cool. Then I'll put in a
plug for our December 17 bookclub for you, Alan, or any other
MGMA member that wants to joinus. We're going to be talking
about "Align the Mind," andthat's written by Britt Frank,
(20:07):
who was a keynote speaker at oneof our MGMA conferences last
spring.
It's one that really helpspeople deal with burnout,
stress, and all of that, how wecan really align things and be
able to develop some armor so wecan work through it. I could
(20:30):
talk about books all day, that'smy passion, so that is just so
cool. Just to share, I've beenworking through a lot of
Southern writers. Maybe one ofthe most famous Louisiana
writers, Walker Percy, he wonthe National Book Award for "The
Moviegoer." It's set in NewOrleans and in that area.
(20:54):
And wrote six novels, and I justfinished the sixth one, "The
Thanatos Syndrome," about amonth ago. So yeah, he is sort
of an existential philosophicalnovelist, Walker Percy. He wrote
in the 60s, 70s, and 80s beforehe passed away. And so he's a
(21:15):
terrific novelist, reallychallenges morality and how we
view spirituality and lots ofthings of that nature. So really
wonderful, wonderful writer.
Allen Alongi (21:28):
I definitely want to and I'm glad you said that
because I'm almost done the Eastof Eden by Steinbeck, which is
an absolute massive novel.
Daniel Williams (21:37):
It is.
Allen Alongi (21:37):
It's taken me a while. Similar to what you were
saying, being able to put innormal human interactions in a
very digestible way that makesyou think that you were in that
position, that's the beauty ofwriting. I imagine that I'm in
the 20s, that I'm in Californiain Salinas Valley. The kind of
(21:58):
stuff that I enjoy. And so now Igotta finish this one so I can
get to the book club in time.
Daniel Williams (22:02):
There you go. Yeah. It's funny. I love
Steinbeck. I love the novellasas well, like The Red Pony and
The Pearl, because like yousaid, East of Eden and Grapes of
Wrath are massive novels.
And I had agreed. I used toappear on a radio show back in
(22:23):
the 2000s, right around 2000,2001. And I think it was the
seventy fifth. There was aspecial anniversary of The
Grapes of Wrath. Maybe it wasthe fiftieth or sixtieth
anniversary.
I'm trying to do the math in myhead. And I wasn't sure I was
(22:43):
going to finish it before wewent live with the radio show.
So I had to do some late nightreading, but I loved the book,
and he's a wonderful writer. Soeverybody's wondering, why are
we talking about books so much?But I think it's really one of
those things about findingpassion in life.
You and I connected on that. Weconnected on some things about
(23:06):
my daughter and your son and thethings that they're either
working with or dealing with inlife and really being able to
be, it's so important in lifebecause when we identify only
perhaps with a job and the jobcan maybe be really, really,
really tough, What are thosethings we can take outside of
it? You talked about themountains up there in Georgia. I
(23:29):
love that area. White waterrafting up there and hiking up
there, and the Ocoee and allthat.
And so you got to really findthose things that you're so
passionate about. And so to beable to connect on books and
people who listen to thepodcast, we know we'll go down a
rabbit hole there and reallyfind what people are passionate
(23:49):
about. So thank you for sharingso much about your book passion
with us. We're going to get you,if we can, to join the book club
as well.
Allen Alongi (23:59):
I think I signed up. I think I've just signed up.
Daniel Williams (24:01):
Oh my gosh. So you're a multitasker while we do
that. So that is so cool. Sobefore we sign off, I want to be
careful and look at the timehere. Before we sign off today,
what else would you like toshare?
I want to hone in on the mentormentee aspect of it. That's
something you're familiar with.It's something you've written an
(24:22):
article about. If someone wantsto get involved in a program,
MGMA has theirs. But if someonefinds it in their own
organization, how do you get themost out of that mentor or
mentee program?
What advice would you give us?
Allen Alongi (24:38):
Yeah, great question. So I think the most
important thing is that a lot ofpeople look at the mentor mentee
relationship as one waycommunication. So the mentor
giving advice to the mentee. Sohey do this this way. I think
that that's a little not flawed,I think that's traditional and I
think that nowadays we have tolook at what you want to get out
(24:59):
of that yourself.
So the way I phrase it in thearticle is more or less that
you're being mentored, butyou're also going to teach
yourself how to become thatmentor. And we're not always
mentees forever. So you havekeeping that in the forefront of
your mind. Those are the kind ofquestions you want to ask. It's
not just about what you do toget to this level.
It's like, what do you think Ishould do more of? Or how can I
(25:23):
engage more? How can I actuallybe more present? Those are the
kind of things that if youreally want to grow and you
really want to engage and getthe most out of that mentorship,
it's that you're preparing forit. You have proper preparation.
You're right. You're not wastingyour mentor's time. And I know
it's not a waste of time in anymatter of that fact, but if
you're going in there with justthe same old questions or maybe
(25:44):
just running in to just say,Hey, I was here for the meeting.
Great. You get a checkbox, butyou're not getting the most out
of that.
For me personally, I've been afrontline worker. I've been in
through all the different levelsgoing up. So for me, I had to
latch on to those mentors that Ifound value in. So one of my
previous roles, was actually adoctor. And I'm not saying that
(26:08):
I would learn a lot managementfrom them, but what I did learn
a lot of was prioritization, theway to speak to people the
correct way, and mainly justkeeping focused, calm, and
understanding that, you know,you're a representation of your
work, whether you're sayingsomething or you're looking a
certain way.
So just learning those littleins and outs really kind of
(26:28):
helped drive me to the nextlevel there. But as far as like
the minty approach, so in myarticle, did give some good
tools as far as like questionsyou can ask. There is like a
measure up assessment to say howmuch am I getting out of it?
What am I doing? So you can kindof put yourself in a level to
say, maybe I'm not doing as muchas I should or maybe I'm doing
so much that I should.
So I found that a little helpfulas well too. But getting on to
(26:51):
your point about the programs,not with MGMA currently but with
ACHE. I am in the mentorshipprogram. I actually signed up as
a mentee this year because forme I said, what more can I learn
even though I've done theselevels, I want to be a mentee?
So I do have a mentee COO, hisname is Bobby Ryan of Apollo MD.
(27:11):
We met up for lunch forHalloween day, is pretty funny
when you see your server dressedas Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
But it was good. And he was thesame way. He was just very, very
open and honest and saying, whatdo you want to get out of it?
And from there, it was just aninstant click.
So just engaging them, beinginvolved in those programs, they
will make you well rounded, nottoo hyper focused in one area,
(27:34):
being more well rounded so youcan reach those next levels. But
I think it is a little bit morewhat you said earlier is just
growing comfortable. Growingcomfortable and trying to
understand that if you reallywant to grow to that next level,
you got to put in the effort.
Daniel Williams (27:46):
Yeah, I love that. Well, Alan, Alonji, thank
you so much for joining us onthe MGMA podcast. Thanks, I
Allen Alongi (27:54):
appreciate it so much. Thanks for having me.
Daniel Williams (27:56):
Yeah. And everybody listening, I mean,
Alan and I went into a deep diveabout books. We went into
mentoring. We went into a lot ofdifferent topics, and this is
something that we want to dowith the podcast and we want to
do with other training and toolsand development for our MGMA
members in 2026, we really wantto provide a conduit, a platform
(28:20):
where people can connect. Thatis what I keep hearing over and
over again from MGMA members.
They'll say, Well, I got thefellowship, or I got this other
certification, this otherprogram, but what really meant a
lot to me was the connections Imade, because now I've got
people on speed dial that I seeevery year at the leaders
(28:41):
conference or at a spring show.And we're going through those
same challenges, but maybe welive across the country from
each other. But some of thosechallenges in healthcare can be
universal. So we really want tobe able to bring a place where
y'all can connect and you canlearn from each other. So I'm
going to put a lot of links inthe episode show notes about
(29:03):
books and mentoring and Alan'sthree articles and a lot of
other good stuff.
You can be on the lookout forthat. Until then, thank you all
for being MGMA podcastlisteners.
Well, hi, everyone. I'm Daniel Williams,
senior editor at MGMA and hostof the MGMA Podcast Network. We
are back with another interviewand recording with one of our
MGMA members. And today we'rejoined by Alan Alonji. Alan is
an MGMA member.
He also is newly appointed toour Human Resources and
(00:26):
Compliance Advisory Board. Weare really excited about that.
You're probably going to hear metalk about that advisory board a
lot over the next year becauseit's new and it's something that
we want to do so we can take aneven deeper dive in creating
content, products, training, anddevelopment for the MGMA
(00:47):
members. So with all that said,Alan, welcome to the show.
Allen Alongi (00:52):
Thank you. It's, it is a pleasure to be on, a big
fan of your podcast as well. Soto be on it is actually kind of
full circle. So thank you.
Daniel Williams (00:59):
That is so cool. Those are the best kind of
guests. Get people who arelistening to the show and
enjoying it and know what we'retalking about. We were talking
off line and I heard you talkingto our producer James, talking
about where you are and whereyou've been. So remind me, you
and I just talked a week or twoago and I want to make sure I
got it right.
Where are you stationed? Wheredo you live right now?
Allen Alongi (01:20):
Yeah, I'm actually in Marietta, Georgia. Working
with Northside Hospital as aphysician practice manager for
the physician enterprise. Soreally within that role,
overseeing a portfolio ofclinics within the Atlanta
market. Know, wear a lot ofdifferent hats, but day to day
in the clinics acting as amentor for our coordinators who
(01:44):
are our managers of the clinics,overseeing operations, oversight
of P and L as well. So really alot of everything, just like you
will you typically experiencewithin operations.
One of the good things that Ireally enjoy about this job
recently is just more of the theautonomy to complete projects as
needed. A lot of those aredriven by our strategic
(02:05):
initiatives and those are mainlyright now retention and patient
experience. So working on thoseand just plugging away and just
doing what I can to create abetter opportunity for our
patients to get in and todevelop some of our coordinators
at the clinics.
Daniel Williams (02:20):
Okay. I'm going to take some of maybe you and
some of our listeners back. Butwhen I was growing up in the
80s, used to watch pro wrestlingthat was beamed out Atlanta. And
big one of draws there was BobArmstrong, who was from
Marietta. That's how I knowMarietta.
(02:41):
He was also a fireman. They usedto talk about that, that he was
an active fireman and aprofessional wrestler.
Allen Alongi (02:47):
I didn't know that.
Daniel Williams (02:48):
Yeah. But, you know, some of the big stars
there. I know Nature Boy, RicFlair, he was huge back then
when I was watching as a kid. Hestill I think he wrestled a
couple of years ago or recently.Was.
Allen Alongi (03:03):
No. No. Definitely. I remember the WWE
Monday nights, and those used tobe a thing back back growing up.
Daniel Williams (03:09):
Yeah. That's fantastic. So are you you're
pretty new to Marietta inGeorgia. Is that correct?
Allen Alongi (03:15):
Yeah. Actually, a year and a month. Been here with
Northside. Was in Houston forabout a year and a month as well
before that, and then NewOrleans all times before that.
Daniel Williams (03:27):
Okay. And you grew up in New Orleans. Is that
correct?
Allen Alongi (03:30):
Yes, sir. Yeah.
Daniel Williams (03:30):
Okay. Yeah, I've got a lot of family. My
aunt and uncle, they both havepassed away, they would be close
to 100 now. But they were in NewOrleans, so we used to visit
there. I've still got theirkids.
They were my cousins. They'rein, I think, Metairie there in
New Orleans. And I've got abrother there as well. What part
(03:53):
of New Orleans did you grow upin?
Allen Alongi (03:55):
Yes, right outside. My dad lived uptown. He
was Orleans police officer forthirty My mother as well lived
uptown, but they moved to theMetairie Harahan area. Not too
far from Metairie at all, butyeah, I also miss it as well. I
mean I love the opportunity hereand I would never trade Marriott
in.
It's this amazing place. But Ido miss the food. That's a tough
(04:20):
one.
Daniel Williams (04:21):
The food's the best. The food's the best there.
It's so good. Well we're so gladyou're here. So what I'm doing
is we're just having deeperconversations with our MGMA
members to really understandtheir story.
So talk a little bit about thathealthcare journey. How'd you
get interested in it in thefirst place?
Allen Alongi (04:42):
Sure. A couple of different things happened, but
the main thing for me was when Iwas 14, I was actually diagnosed
with Type I Diabetes. And kindof a really kind of a critical
event that got me there whereunfortunately I went into a coma
for a few days, woke up, was inthe children's hospital, and
didn't know what was going on.But from that point on, was a
(05:03):
lot of interactions withneurologists, with
endocrinologists, physicaltherapists for a whole journey
until I got out of the hospital.Then of course, subsequently
following up with those thingsmore regularly where I was
forced into health care if youreally think about it.
But from that standpoint, I'vealways kind of been a leader in
what I do. I play rugby as wellas you know in my current
(05:25):
professional career. I've alwaysfelt that desire to do as much
as possible with that ability.And at first I started in
hospitality in New Orleans.Right?
It's the lifeblood there. Then Imade a decision after I really
just started thinking criticallyabout not only job security but
then about what I could do andwhat I could offer. So then I
(05:45):
jumped into a little bit on theI worked with American Diabetes
Association as a project managerironically throwing on the tour
de cures as well as the bigevents that they had within the
South Louisiana market. Fromthere I actually transitioned
over into the academic medicineside with LSU Health in New
Orleans where I was working as adepartment coordinator for the
Cardiovascular Center ofExcellence and then from there
(06:08):
went over to a residencycoordinator with general surgery
and critical care fellowship. Sothat was the experience that got
my mind thinking even furtherabout where I wanted to go with
health care and having a lot ofsurgeons on our residency team,
going to the actual hospital andseeing them in action, I was
(06:29):
like, this is where I need tobe.
I don't need to be behind thisdesk. And that is what kind of
drove me to get some morecertifications to drive myself
to be more marketable for thosetypes of roles. Unfortunately,
ended up in a role with HCA atTulane. I was there for about
two and a half years overseeingthe Tulane Institute of Sports
Medicine, which was an absoluteanimal. Exposure, if you're
(06:53):
asking what did you get in thatfirst I learned it all.
I think in that experience,learning to deal with providers,
learning to deal with the insand outs of how things work,
learning how to deal withstaffing. And obviously staffing
is the crux of a lot of ourchallenges. So that experience
was probably one of the best ofmy careers and reinforced that I
(07:15):
am where I wanted to be. Fromthere I actually kind of
branched out a bit, left thehome, wanted to find more
opportunities that may have notbeen available there. So I ended
up as a director of operationsfor an allergy and ENT
organization out in Houston.
Another great experience wasthere about a year and a month.
I had some real high levelexperience as far as opening de
(07:36):
novo clinics, bringing on newproviders as well, and just
really expanding the bandwidthof access for that group. And
then from there, you know, ourdream, I think I had mentioned
it last week, was we alwayswanted to live near the
mountains. So you know westarted looking out and we're
not quite there but we're closeenough. So we looked to
(07:58):
Northside and actually aheadhunter group had reached out
to me because I was showing someinterest, the rest is history.
So now Northside's just been agreat organization, the best
I've ever been a part of. Youknow, they're really focused on
retention, and I think that's abig thing, not only for our
frontline staff, but formanagers as well who who want to
(08:19):
actually grow. That's that's allI want to do is grow. So I'm in
a good spot now.
Daniel Williams (08:25):
That is incredible. What a great story,
and it sounds like you've gottena real variety of opportunities.
It's just not exactly areplication of the same thing.
You've really branched out. Oneof the things you did years ago,
I guess, or you'd have to tellme how long ago, but you
connected with MGMA.
I'm always curious about that.When we do talk to an MGMA
(08:47):
member, what was the gateway?How'd you hear about MGMA? When
was that introduction made?
Allen Alongi (08:53):
Yeah. So ironically, in the last role I
was in, the group was thinkinglike, how can we get our
managers and directors to alevel where every single facet
of the industry is somethingthat they're familiar with? So
as a director of operations, youknow, I've had a lot of lived
experiences in the roles, right,that kind of taught me what to
(09:14):
do and when to do it. But thenonce they introduced me to NGMA
and I started taking a look, Iwas like, wait a second. I do a
lot of this stuff already.
And and actually, this is thestuff that I want to learn more
of.
Daniel Williams (09:25):
Yeah.
Allen Alongi (09:25):
So they purchased the, you know, the initial ACMP
package for me. Okay. So fromthere, I just started reading
the book, and I was like, theseare a lot of parallels here. And
then ironically, right, youknow, how it aligns with what I
want to do and where I want togrow, I think that, you know,
looking not just at thecertification but what MGMA has
otherwise. Now that's one of mymain sources when I'm looking
(09:47):
for insight articles, when I'mlooking for data to to, you
know, support decision making orjust primarily looking for any
kind of trends or evolvingtechnologies that we might not
be using that we could be.
And that is just it's a breadthof knowledge. It's great to know
that something like MGMA exists,especially when you didn't at
first because it opens a lot ofopportunities. And, furthermore,
(10:09):
you I promote MGMA all the timeto my manager team. So every we
had our manager meeting thismorning, and I always leave them
with an article to take awayjust so we can learn a little
more. So we're growing.
So we're not just growingstagnant with what we're doing
day to day. And MGA has been aterrific resource for that.
Daniel Williams (10:26):
That's fantastic. And the way you and I
met, we put out a volunteeropportunity for the Human
Resources and ComplianceAdvisory Board, And we connected
that way because there are thosevolunteer opportunities where
you can go and give back, thatsort of thing. Now remind me,
because you and I did talk, butthen I talked to 10 other
(10:48):
advisory board members and someof the conversations are mixing
together. Had you written somearticles for MGMA as well? Tell
us about that if you did.
Allen Alongi (10:59):
Yeah. This past year actually I wrote three
different articles. They wereinside articles. You know, I
started looking ahead andthinking about what I can do
more to contribute to the spaceand with what knowledge I had.
So I did release a coupledifferent articles.
My most recent one was one morefocused on the mentee journey
(11:19):
and kind of guiding with thathow you interact with your
mentor, what you're going to getout of that mentorship and how
you can apply it to your futuregrowth. Some others have been
more about feedback loops, howwe really value the voice of the
patient, but we might undervaluethe voice of the employee. So
using those two together to kindof come to an agreement on a
(11:41):
decision what should be done,that has been something that
I've really kind of beenthinking about. I was happy to
get that on paper. And then someothers are more practical.
My other article is aboutpractical solutions more or less
in the clinics that weexperience day to day. So like
what is it where staffing iscompletely overburdened by one
task and they can't do somethingelse, and just focusing on tools
and tips on how to fix that in arealistic environment. So
(12:05):
whether it's centralized refillprescription pools or whether
it's cross training or thingslike that that are really going
to make your job easier. I justwanted to, you know, write that
up and kind of see if anyone gotany value out of it. It looks
like MGMA has and I reallyappreciate it.
You know, I still gotta wait toget that magazine in the box in
my office, but I'll let my wifehandle that. But it's been
(12:27):
great. Yeah. And you you bothhave all been very, very
welcoming on that and veryappreciative. And, Since then,
it seems like something I'mgoing to make a regular thing.
Daniel Williams (12:36):
That's cool. Talk about the writing, because
not everybody wants to writearticles. Is that something
you've always enjoyed doing,being a writer as well, or where
did that come about?
Allen Alongi (12:48):
Yeah. If I could choose my dream job, I would be
an author. You know, I startedreading when I was way younger,
you know, five, six, and thenreally started getting into
really just more classicalliterature. And, you know,
something that I really, reallyadmire is the old classics. You
know, my favorite, and I quotedit in the last article I wrote,
of course, is the "Count ofMonte Cristo."
(13:10):
For me, I've always thought tomyself, like, I feel like I have
something inside of me that Ican put on paper. Like I feel
it, but I don't maybe have itcontained yet. So I really read
a lot and absorbed a lot at ayoung age. Then for me, it just
I just started finding myselfwriting more. And, you know, I
really kind of just try andpivot off of experiences I have
(13:31):
in life.
I haven't read anything morethan what you've seen now with
the articles, but in my previousroles, I was writing press
releases for the New OrleansConvention and Visitors Bureau.
I was also releasing somearticles for LSU Health as well.
So that being in thatprofessional setting got my
wheels spinning a little bitmore. And, you know, this has
been more of an open, more justlike feature pieces, which I
(13:54):
really enjoy too. There's notreally many guardrails on it.
It's just give us what you got.But, yeah, I think I think my in
my youth, just reading a lot andjust reading really religiously
was was something that I alwaysenjoyed. And I think that's what
carried over to me wanting to towrite as much.
Daniel Williams (14:08):
I'm trying to remember. Is there was there a
connection then? Because Ihaven't been privy to reading
your article yet. Is theresomething in there about mentors
or mentees or something that youpulled from that where you
thought it really made aconnection?
Allen Alongi (14:23):
Absolutely. The main connection was Edmond
Dantes and Abbé . So when hegoes to prison, he of course
meets his his what was the word?Unserendipitous or serendipitous
cellmate who essentially was inthere. They're all political
prisoners.
They were innocent but they wereall together. And from there, he
(14:46):
the aide took him under hiswing. He taught him philosophy.
He taught him languages. Hetaught him mathematics, science,
everything that he didn't have.
That in that journey, of coursebeing in prison, that's the
irony of it, right? He'slearning all this stuff in a
place where, you know, dreams goto die essentially. So from
there, and Abbé introduced him,he grew to trust him. Then he
said, you know, I do have thistreasure map, right? That was
(15:08):
like one of the last few things.
And so with all that experienceand Edmond being a receptive
mentee, being the key there,actually absorbing and wanting
to learn, he wrote his owndestiny. And I think that's such
a really strong parallel, and Ilove that it has it happens to
be in the kind of Monte Cristobecause I love the book. But,
you know, bringing that bringingthat, you know, example over
(15:30):
into the article, I think,really helps it tie it together.
And anybody can take a read or alook at the movie and see
exactly what I'm talking about.But I think it's just that, you
know, that forced companionshipthey had ended up changing the
course of his life.
So that was really strong forme.
Daniel Williams (15:48):
Yeah, I'm going into my memory banks because
I've read that, and I've alsoread The Man and the Iron Mask.
And so I'm getting the two I'mgoing to have to pull up both
books and read about them justto clarify them in my mind. So
I'm so glad that you've openedthat door for me. I've been
going back this year and readinga lot of the classics, and so
(16:09):
it's been really cool. So I didwant to follow-up and ask you,
is there a favorite author ortwo that you just love or want
to recommend to anybody here?
Allen Alongi (16:18):
Yeah. I mean, Alexander Dumas, who wrote that,
is great. He also did "ThreeMusketeers," which I like as
well. Not a more classical one,but one series I really loved
growing up was Lemony Snicket's"A Series of
Unfortunate Events." Kinda had alittle parallels.
I had two brothers. They werethree kids together, and they
went through a lot of, like,troubles in their youth, which
we did have in my in my life. SoI really clung on to that. I was
(16:41):
like, look at this journey.Like, where are they going?
So I really enjoyed them. Youknow, besides that, I mean, just
putting me on the spot. Classicsthat I can think of Stephen
King. I've always been a fan.I'm not too horror not not too
associated with the horrorgenre, but it really has a way
of storytelling that just reallythat really just gets you
(17:02):
captivated.
And another big one would beThomas Wolfe, "A Homeward
Angel." A very strong Americanstream of conscious thought and
writing. That's kind of thestuff that you know, before you
write, you're thinking aboutwhat to write. And then this guy
put it down in such a geniusway. I was like, I need to read
more of this.
So those are some off the top ofmy head. There's definitely a
(17:23):
few more but those are some ofmy favorites.
Daniel Williams (17:25):
Oh that's wonderful. That is wonderful.
Yeah, I have this quote from theshort story writer, Raymond
Carver. He was asked about whohis influences were and he said,
Well, I really like a lot ofwriters. Two people, you think
about Thomas Wolfe, he would addto the story, put his original
(17:50):
story down, and then he wouldkeep adding words and adding
words and adding words.
But then he also compared to F.Scott Fitzgerald, who would just
take out till every single wordcounted that was left in there,
like in "The Great Gatsby," youknow that every word is in there
for a reason. And Thomas Wolfe,yes, it is very Very expansive
(18:14):
is the exact word I was going touse. There's so much. And then
Carver, for anybody who readhim, he clearly was known for
being a minimalist.
He wrote short stories in the70s and 80s. And so there's all
kinds of writing. And so it's socool to be able to do that. I
did want to ask you, you may notknow, but we do have an MGMA
(18:35):
book club. So these aren'tclassics.
These are leadership books, butwe have really cool discussions
about the book. You and I canconnect offline, but honestly,
you could go to mgma.com and youcould just type "book club" in
there and it would show up. Butfor everybody listening, because
(18:56):
we've had a book discussion now,and this is what we like to do,
we like to go kind of off thetangent of the guest and really
connect with them in a certainway. And we meet the third
Wednesday of each month, unlessthere's a holiday or something
comes up. But we just had a bookclub meeting yesterday, and the
(19:21):
book was Shatterproof by TashaUrich.
It's a leadership book aboutresilience and how to really
build resilience, but also evengo beyond that. She even
challenges the idea of maybe ourresilience for some people gets
up to the level where we can'tbe any more resilient and we
(19:41):
need other types of tools toreally combat the chaos she
talks about there. So that'sreally cool. Then I'll put in a
plug for our December 17 bookclub for you, Alan, or any other
MGMA member that wants to joinus. We're going to be talking
about "Align the Mind," andthat's written by Britt Frank,
(20:07):
who was a keynote speaker at oneof our MGMA conferences last
spring.
It's one that really helpspeople deal with burnout,
stress, and all of that, how wecan really align things and be
able to develop some armor so wecan work through it. I could
(20:30):
talk about books all day, that'smy passion, so that is just so
cool. Just to share, I've beenworking through a lot of
Southern writers. Maybe one ofthe most famous Louisiana
writers, Walker Percy, he wonthe National Book Award for "The
Moviegoer." It's set in NewOrleans and in that area.
(20:54):
And wrote six novels, and I justfinished the sixth one, "The
Thanatos Syndrome," about amonth ago. So yeah, he is sort
of an existential philosophicalnovelist, Walker Percy. He wrote
in the 60s, 70s, and 80s beforehe passed away. And so he's a
(21:15):
terrific novelist, reallychallenges morality and how we
view spirituality and lots ofthings of that nature. So really
wonderful, wonderful writer.
Allen Alongi (21:28):
I definitely want to and I'm glad you said that
because I'm almost done the Eastof Eden by Steinbeck, which is
an absolute massive novel.
Daniel Williams (21:37):
It is.
Allen Alongi (21:37):
It's taken me a while. Similar to what you were
saying, being able to put innormal human interactions in a
very digestible way that makesyou think that you were in that
position, that's the beauty ofwriting. I imagine that I'm in
the 20s, that I'm in Californiain Salinas Valley. The kind of
(21:58):
stuff that I enjoy. And so now Igotta finish this one so I can
get to the book club in time.
Daniel Williams (22:02):
There you go. Yeah. It's funny. I love
Steinbeck. I love the novellasas well, like The Red Pony and
The Pearl, because like yousaid, East of Eden and Grapes of
Wrath are massive novels.
And I had agreed. I used toappear on a radio show back in
(22:23):
the 2000s, right around 2000,2001. And I think it was the
seventy fifth. There was aspecial anniversary of The
Grapes of Wrath. Maybe it wasthe fiftieth or sixtieth
anniversary.
I'm trying to do the math in myhead. And I wasn't sure I was
(22:43):
going to finish it before wewent live with the radio show.
So I had to do some late nightreading, but I loved the book,
and he's a wonderful writer. Soeverybody's wondering, why are
we talking about books so much?But I think it's really one of
those things about findingpassion in life.
You and I connected on that. Weconnected on some things about
(23:06):
my daughter and your son and thethings that they're either
working with or dealing with inlife and really being able to
be, it's so important in lifebecause when we identify only
perhaps with a job and the jobcan maybe be really, really,
really tough, What are thosethings we can take outside of
it? You talked about themountains up there in Georgia. I
(23:29):
love that area. White waterrafting up there and hiking up
there, and the Ocoee and allthat.
And so you got to really findthose things that you're so
passionate about. And so to beable to connect on books and
people who listen to thepodcast, we know we'll go down a
rabbit hole there and reallyfind what people are passionate
(23:49):
about. So thank you for sharingso much about your book passion
with us. We're going to get you,if we can, to join the book club
as well.
Allen Alongi (23:59):
I think I signed up. I think I've just signed up.
Daniel Williams (24:01):
Oh my gosh. So you're a multitasker while we do
that. So that is so cool. Sobefore we sign off, I want to be
careful and look at the timehere. Before we sign off today,
what else would you like toshare?
I want to hone in on the mentormentee aspect of it. That's
something you're familiar with.It's something you've written an
(24:22):
article about. If someone wantsto get involved in a program,
MGMA has theirs. But if someonefinds it in their own
organization, how do you get themost out of that mentor or
mentee program?
What advice would you give us?
Allen Alongi (24:38):
Yeah, great question. So I think the most
important thing is that a lot ofpeople look at the mentor mentee
relationship as one waycommunication. So the mentor
giving advice to the mentee. Sohey do this this way. I think
that that's a little not flawed,I think that's traditional and I
think that nowadays we have tolook at what you want to get out
(24:59):
of that yourself.
So the way I phrase it in thearticle is more or less that
you're being mentored, butyou're also going to teach
yourself how to become thatmentor. And we're not always
mentees forever. So you havekeeping that in the forefront of
your mind. Those are the kind ofquestions you want to ask. It's
not just about what you do toget to this level.
It's like, what do you think Ishould do more of? Or how can I
(25:23):
engage more? How can I actuallybe more present? Those are the
kind of things that if youreally want to grow and you
really want to engage and getthe most out of that mentorship,
it's that you're preparing forit. You have proper preparation.
You're right. You're not wastingyour mentor's time. And I know
it's not a waste of time in anymatter of that fact, but if
you're going in there with justthe same old questions or maybe
(25:44):
just running in to just say,Hey, I was here for the meeting.
Great. You get a checkbox, butyou're not getting the most out
of that.
For me personally, I've been afrontline worker. I've been in
through all the different levelsgoing up. So for me, I had to
latch on to those mentors that Ifound value in. So one of my
previous roles, was actually adoctor. And I'm not saying that
(26:08):
I would learn a lot managementfrom them, but what I did learn
a lot of was prioritization, theway to speak to people the
correct way, and mainly justkeeping focused, calm, and
understanding that, you know,you're a representation of your
work, whether you're sayingsomething or you're looking a
certain way.
So just learning those littleins and outs really kind of
(26:28):
helped drive me to the nextlevel there. But as far as like
the minty approach, so in myarticle, did give some good
tools as far as like questionsyou can ask. There is like a
measure up assessment to say howmuch am I getting out of it?
What am I doing? So you can kindof put yourself in a level to
say, maybe I'm not doing as muchas I should or maybe I'm doing
so much that I should.
So I found that a little helpfulas well too. But getting on to
(26:51):
your point about the programs,not with MGMA currently but with
ACHE. I am in the mentorshipprogram. I actually signed up as
a mentee this year because forme I said, what more can I learn
even though I've done theselevels, I want to be a mentee?
So I do have a mentee COO, hisname is Bobby Ryan of Apollo MD.
(27:11):
We met up for lunch forHalloween day, is pretty funny
when you see your server dressedas Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
But it was good. And he was thesame way. He was just very, very
open and honest and saying, whatdo you want to get out of it?
And from there, it was just aninstant click.
So just engaging them, beinginvolved in those programs, they
will make you well rounded, nottoo hyper focused in one area,
(27:34):
being more well rounded so youcan reach those next levels. But
I think it is a little bit morewhat you said earlier is just
growing comfortable. Growingcomfortable and trying to
understand that if you reallywant to grow to that next level,
you got to put in the effort.
Daniel Williams (27:46):
Yeah, I love that. Well, Alan, Alonji, thank
you so much for joining us onthe MGMA podcast. Thanks, I
Allen Alongi (27:54):
appreciate it so much. Thanks for having me.
Daniel Williams (27:56):
Yeah. And everybody listening, I mean,
Alan and I went into a deep diveabout books. We went into
mentoring. We went into a lot ofdifferent topics, and this is
something that we want to dowith the podcast and we want to
do with other training and toolsand development for our MGMA
members in 2026, we really wantto provide a conduit, a platform
(28:20):
where people can connect. Thatis what I keep hearing over and
over again from MGMA members.
They'll say, Well, I got thefellowship, or I got this other
certification, this otherprogram, but what really meant a
lot to me was the connections Imade, because now I've got
people on speed dial that I seeevery year at the leaders
(28:41):
conference or at a spring show.And we're going through those
same challenges, but maybe welive across the country from
each other. But some of thosechallenges in healthcare can be
universal. So we really want tobe able to bring a place where
y'all can connect and you canlearn from each other. So I'm
going to put a lot of links inthe episode show notes about
(29:03):
books and mentoring and Alan'sthree articles and a lot of
other good stuff.
You can be on the lookout forthat. Until then, thank you all
for being MGMA podcastlisteners.
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