Experts

Brian is the Founder & Chief Product Officer of PayerWatch, a national leader in their respective categories for Appeal Support services and next-generation Denial/Appeal Management. The denial technology and revenue recovery methods he designed are currently used by over 500 hospitals and health systems nationwide. As a fierce advocate for hospitals and physicians in their right to be fully paid, he consults with and educates revenue cycle and compliance leaders throughout the U.S. on government and commercial claim dispute resolution management. He is a nationally recognized speaker and sought-after expert in the areas of Revenue Risk Management, Regulatory Audit Management and Payer Compliance. Brian pioneered the early design and development of software for revenue compliance and next-generation RCM technology to improve hospital net revenue performance. Over the last twenty years, he has worked with hundreds of hospitals and many of the nation’s largest healthcare systems to improve their managed care reimbursements, denied claim recoveries, billing integrity, RAC audit management and Medicare compliance.

Vivek has more than 22 years of experience designing/developing software and has worked across multiple domains in his professional life, including banking, telecommunication, K-12 education and Healthcare. He has been with PayerWatch for 8+ years; Vivek believes that the customer is the most valuable asset an organization can have and that all software design should be driven by a unrelenting pursuit of end user focus and experience which enables them to effectively use applications to achieve business results. As the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) he revels in solving problems, finding creative solutions to customer needs and clearing a path for the organization to do the very best they can while constantly moving forward.

Dr. Kendall Smith is a Senior Fellow in Hospital Medicine (SFHM) and currently acts as Chief Medical Officer and Chief Physician Advisor for PayerWatch, a leading appeal educator and appeal services firm for hospitals and health systems. He’s been deeply involved in denial and appeals management throughout his hospitalist career, working collaboratively with UR/Case Management departments as well as Managed Care and Hospital C-Suite executives. His familiarity with managed care denials led him to design and implement a number of CDI programs, including those at the Cleveland Clinic in Florida and the MedStar Washington Hospital Center. He has served as a physician leader on hospital revenue cycle management teams while also serving as a the Physician Advisor for Clinical Resource Management. Dr. Smith is also an AHIMA ICD-CM/PCS approved trainer/ambassador.

Karla is the Vice President, Clinical Resources at AppealsMasters, the appeal service group of the PayerWatch family. Karla has a wealth of experience from her 30+ years as a registered nurse that allowed her to experience first hand the impact that denials have on our nation’s hospitals. Prior to her present role, she held numerous positions in the healthcare industry. Some of the highlights in her career included working as a Clinical Documentation Specialist, managing a highly successful Clinical Documentation Improvement Department, building a Medical Oncology Research Program, and building a multimillion dollar Denials and Appeals Program. Karla is passionate about making sure that our hospitals are paid for the work that they do. To that end, she has written hundreds, if not thousands, of appeals and presented dozens of cases at the hearing level. In her current role, she works as an educator and enjoys teaching how to write winning appeals. She is responsible for the quality of appeals produced by PayerWatch, and is often a co-presenter for PayerWatch's webinars that reach a national audience. Karla is a current member of ACMA and AHIMA.

Wendy began her career at PayerWatch as Director of Client Support & Services in 2009 following twenty five years of experience in the healthcare and managed care industries including project management, EDI knowledge and decades of leadership in relevant systems and IT service environments. Wendy is currently responsible for the technical product and quality management of IT support and product services for PayerWatch. Working with developers, she has visibility over projects at all checkpoints and maintains project deliverables to ensure success at every intersection. With more than 20 years of experience as an industry executive – with focus in system/business analysis and design, integration/regression testing and product development – Wendy effectively translates customer needs and market opportunities into successful business strategies. Wendy manages the day-to-day resolution of internal and client support requests. Prior to PayerWatch, she held a number of management positions in various healthcare companies including a Chicago-based PPO Network, a national government healthcare audit contractor, a Third Party Administrator and a healthcare software revenue recovery company. Wendy also led a development team which patented the first automated claims repricing system.

Tracey Tomak is a Registered Health Information Administrator and Project Management Professional with over 20 years of experience in revenue cycle with a focus on hospital coding, charge capture, and denials management. In her current role as Director, Project Management and Client Engagement, Tracey is responsible for coordinating project implementation of PayerWatch's Veracity software. Tracey works directly with clients to ensure that they are fully utilizing the Veracity software in order to effectively manage commercial and government audits and denials. Tracey is an active member of IHIMA, serving as the Nominating Committee Chair for the 2018-19 year. Tracey is a regular guest speaker, lecturer, and author on revenue topics such as the Medicare Two-Midnight Rule, RAC and other audit activity, roles within the revenue cycle for health information ma

Ryan O’Hara is an accomplished healthcare executive with a wealth of experience in revenue cycle operations. Throughout his career, Ryan has demonstrated a deep understanding of the complexities of healthcare financial management and has worked to develop strategies and solutions to drive efficiency, reduce costs, and improve patient outcomes. Ryan began his career as the first Revenue Cycle Executive for Cerner Revworks, where he was responsible for leading the company’s revenue cycle management operations. He then served as the Senior Director of Revenue Cycle and Plant Operations at Liberty Hospital, where he led financial operations and helped implement several key initiatives, improving revenue cycle performance. At Northern Arizona Healthcare, Ryan served as the Chief Revenue Officer. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing nearly $2 billion in operations for acute and professional revenue cycle operations, as well as leading the organization’s revenue integrity program. In recent years, Ryan has been working on building a new company and collaborating with Adventist Health on their revenue integrity program. Through it all, he has earned a reputation as a strategic thinker, an innovative problem-solver, and a dynamic leader able to build strong teams and achieve exceptional results.

Reggie Allen, MBA RN ACM, is the Chief of Clinical/Business Operations for PayerWatch. Reggie has more than 35 years of experience in a variety of healthcare positions, including staff nurse, nurse manager, Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Vice President, Clinical/Business Operations Transformation. He has been recognized nationally as an expert in care management and clinical operations. He is a results-driven leader who emphasizes operational transformation by integrating clinical and financial care aspects. He obtained a bachelor's degree in nursing from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. He is a member of the American Case Management Association (ACMA) and the American College of Healthcare Executives. Reggie possesses comprehensive knowledge and experience in all facets of care management, including case management, utilization management, disease management, quality management, and resource resource management. He has designed and implemented an enterprise-wide Clinical Appeals Unit and a clinical documentation program with success. Using six sigma and Lean principles, he is an expert in clinical and operational efficiencies that enhance clinical outcomes and financial perfromance through a variety of methodologies.