Scoping of Data Clean-Up of SQL System (Recently Awarded Engagement)

Warbird has been engaged to provide consulting services and to assist the client in developing a Scope of Work document related to their needs for data clean-up.  The project will involve the ability to extract data from SQL and running complex data analyses.

Warbird has the responsibilities to review and develop business rules and approaches around service credit and salary. As a part of this Engagement, Warbird will also determine which data needs to be cleansed and develop a cost estimate for the data scrubbing.

Professional Services Firm Adds David Ebel and David Kiehn to Healthcare CFO Consulting Network; Names CarolAnn Denton-Fitzpatrick and Scott Peterson Managing Directors 

 

(Atlanta, GA – July 17, 2012) – Warbird Consulting Partners today announced the addition of two veteran healthcare finance experts to its Healthcare CFO Consulting Network, as well as the promotion of two longtime directors to managing director, filling key leadership positions in the rapidly-growing company.

 

“Warbird has experienced tremendous growth since the beginning of the year because of the depth of knowledge and experience we can provide across multiple disciplines and industries,” said Mike Draa, CEO and managing director of Warbird Consulting Partners. “We maintain our strong value proposition by ensuring we have top talent both internally and in our consulting partners. The addition of nationally-recognized experts to the Healthcare CFO Network, and the promotion of proven leaders to managing director, is evidence of Warbird’s commitment to excellence as we grow.”

 

Ebel, Kiehn add more expertise to Healthcare CFO Network

David Ebel has joined Warbird’s Healthcare CFO Consulting Network, a nationwide network of hospital and health system CFOs that assists hospitals and physicians with complex accounting and financial projects, and provides expert strategic counsel. The former CFO of the Mayo Clinic, Ebel has more than 35 years’ experience in finance and more than 20 years’ experience in healthcare. Recognized as a top strategist and effective communicator, Ebel also has served as interim CFO at Stanford Hospital and Clinics, and the Billings Clinic. A graduate of both Yale and Harvard universities, Ebel began his career in accounting at Arthur Andersen LLP.

 

Also joining the Healthcare CFO Network is veteran healthcare finance expert David Kiehn. An accomplished healthcare operations professional with decades of experience, Kiehn previously served as vice president of operations at Stanford Hospital and Clinics, and as CFO for West Penn Allegheny Health System. Kiehn received both a bachelor’s degree and MBA from Eastern Washington University, and began his career at Arthur Andersen, LLP, in the healthcare practice.

 

“The CFO Network provides clients with a tested, trusted resource to help manage the additional workload and strain from healthcare reform and the growing complexities of today’s regulatory environment,” said Draa. “Our experts are some of the best in the field and understand how to deploy efficient accounting and finance teams while balancing the many other financial management requirements of today’s healthcare industry.”

 

Denton-Fitzpatrick, Peterson named managing directors

As Warbird continues to expand both its client base and service lines, the company also announced the promotion of two long-time directors to managing director to fill key leadership positions.

 

CarolAnn Denton-Fitzpatrick has been with Warbird since 2003 and has more than 20 years of experience leading government contracts and financial services engagements, and overseeing compliance and due diligence reviews. As managing director, she will serve as leader of Warbird’s government services practice. Denton-Fitzpatrick holds a PhD in finance and accounting from Kennedy-Western University, an MBA in statistical economics and accounting from Cleveland State University, and a BSc in chemistry and mathematics from the University of the West Indies.

 

Scott Peterson has been with Warbird since 2004, and has more than 25 years’ experience in a variety of client and service line management roles in the areas of financial planning and analysis, shared services and accounting. As managing director, Peterson will assume leadership of Warbird’s accounting advisory practice. Peterson earned a BS in accounting from DePaul University and an MBA from Emory University.

 

“These promotions represent a significant milestone for us because they are Warbird’s first internal promotions to managing director,” added Draa. “Accounting advisory and government services have been key to our growth to date and we are very pleased to have strong, competent leaders in these areas to ensure continued success.”

 

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About Warbird Consulting Partners

Founded in 2012, Warbird Consulting Partners is a professional services firm based in Atlanta, Georgia that specializes in scalable, value-driven accounting and financial solutions. Warbird’s five key areas of expertise include accounting advisory, the Healthcare CFO Consulting Network, financial institutions, government agencies and On-Demand Services. The company provides cost-saving, measurable results to Fortune 500 companies, healthcare organizations, government agencies and small- to medium-sized businesses. For more information, please visit warbird.wpengine.com.

 

Teachers Retirement System of Texas – Governance for Alternative Investments and Derivatives

Warbird performed an internal audit for one of the country’s largest public retirement systems to evaluate the controls it had in place regarding its alternative investment classes, those asset classes without quoted prices in the active markets that would typically be categorized as level 3 by the FAS 157 standards.  These classes include: private equity, real estate, hedge funds, and over-the-counter derivatives.  Further, Warbird benchmarked the client’s internal controls to the industry and made recommendations in order to best assess and monitor risks to the organization from these asset classes.  The internal audit also examined controls residing at the client’s bank to provide guidance on how the client could monitor these controls without duplicating the effort.

The work was performed in 2 distinct phases:

Phase I:

  • Evaluating the reasonableness of the procedures and controls used to account for and value the alternative assets and derivatives.
  • Evaluating the degree of transparency by which TRS is able to support its valuation process for alternative assets and derivatives.
  • Providing recommendations for improving related procedures and controls.

Phase II:

  • Auditing the existence and valuation assertions made by management for financial reporting of alternative investments and derivatives for the year ending August 31, 2008.

The Guam Department of Education (GDOE) has engaged Warbird Consulting Partners to:

  • Provide FMIS Project Management Services.  Project objectives are to acquire and implement a financial management information system that will ensure fiscal management of education funds for financial, payroll, human resources, fixed assets, procurement and record keeping as well as to strengthen GDOE’s Financial Management and Business Processes.  Specific attributes of the Warbird Team includes Project management by supporting the functioning steering committee and change control board meetings, engaging process owners to prepare system requirement definitions, leading internal team through necessary tasks, monitoring contractor performance against contractual obligations, informing GDOE leadership and initiate corrective action as soon as practicable after discovery of contractor and staff failure to perform, preparing scripts and overseeing acceptance testing of contractor solutions, and data analysis of the legacy system and conversion of large data sets of information.
  •  Streamline and automate Accounting, Human Resources and Vendor Management systems and while making them transparent to stakeholders

Warbird worked with a local firm on a 20 person team to convert information from the AS400 and the MUNIS system.

Starting with the Static Environment Testing, Warbird determined what information was available and transferable electronically and also what data needed manual input.  The areas addressed were: General Ledger, Budget, Project Accounting, Purchase Order, Bid / Contract Management, Accounts Payable and Receivable, Fixed Assets, General Billing, Employee Expense, Student Activity, and Treasury Management.

DOE finances and procurement activities are now on the MUNIS system, with personnel records, payroll and maintenance tracking set to go live in July 2012.

Benefits gained as follows :

  • Removal of Guam DOE from the High-Risk grantee status. The implementation of the new financial management information system addressed one of the critical areas identified in the Comprehensive Corrective Action Plan which was to remove the Department of Education off the high-risk grantee status.
  • Employee Self-Service.  Employees have instant access for monitoring and updating  personal and employment information such as: leave time accruals, pay history, W2’s, 1099’s, employment application status, status of leave requests, employee benefits enrollment, and performance evaluations, through a secure internet connection.
  • Vendor Self-Service.  Vendors now have instant access when seeking or placing a bid, checking current and past purchase order detail, or updating a respective profile.  Vendors Self Service provides vendors web-based access to information and business records such as: vendor registration, registration of bids by commodity code, 1099’s, purchase orders, checks, and invoices. DOE vendors are now able to access and change information through a secure internet connection.
Receivership Services
  • Assistance in planning a resolution strategy for troubled Farm Credit Institutions and for assistance in developing a resolution process.  FCSIC operates with a small staff of 11 employees.
  • Warbird has developed and is currently testing the Pre-Resolution Examination Procedures for the regulated entities. Gathered information necessary to develop a resolution plan for a large Farm Credit institution. Provided processes and procedures, oversight for pre-closing and closing activities, and executing the testing phase for monitoring loss sharing agreements, potential issues and strategies related to loan commitments and workout, and disposition of loan participations.

Receivership Services 

  • Recently awarded contract to assist FHFA to review alternatives for process and implications of putting a regulated entity (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Federal Home Loan Bank) into receivership.  If FHFA elects to place a regulated entity into receivership, Warbird will assist in the implementation using its extensive team of experts that have cross-functional expertise.
  • Provide advisory services regarding the preparation that shall be required prior to placing a regulated entity into receivership, to recommend requisite procedures for planning the receivership of the regulated entities and assist in their implementation, and provide advice and assistance in placing a regulated entity into receivership and its operation and administration, should FHFA decide that it is necessary to place any of the regulated entities into receivership.

Hospital transactions can be transformative periods for hospitals due to the potential cultural and operational shifts that could result. Hospital staff and physicians may find it difficult to adjust to enterprise wide cultural changes. The following five best practices will help hospital executives and administrators guide their hospital staff and physicians through these cultural transitions.

Read full article at the source.

I need to correct an earlier post and apologize for misleading you.

This week I declared “39 percent of payers report they won’t be ready for ICD-10 in 2014.” This was based upon a HealthEdge news statement that teased their State of the Payor survey. What led me to write the 39 percent headline was this nugget of information, simple math and deductive reasoning:

“Only 61 percent of payors believe they will be ready to meet the new ICD-10 compliance deadline”

Read full article at the source.

The Supreme Court upholds the vast majority of the Affordable Care Act, but its decision raises new questions about Medicaid expansion

While the Supreme Court last month closed the door on a major constitutional question, the justices appear to have created a new era of uncertainty surrounding a key provision of health care reform.

Read full article at the source.

As healthcare organizations prepare for the ICD-10 conversion, everyone knows there will be challenges. And while much of the focus has been on the difficulties of hands-on implementation, financial managers are not likely to make it through unscathed.

Read full article at the source.