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”
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.
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.
Beginning with high-deductible health plans and cost sharing models, which started springing up around a decade ago, and continuing to the creation of health insurance exchanges — written into the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — consumerism has been on a steady rise in the healthcare industry.
When David Ebel joined the financial executive staff of Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic in the late 1980s, he had zero experience in healthcare but plenty of experience in the corporate finance world at accounting firm Arthur Andersen and then Dayton Hudson Corp., which is now known as discount retail giant Target.
The legal intricacies of today’s 5-4 decision by the Supreme Court to uphold key provisions of the Affordable Care Act will be parsed for weeks, months and probably years, and will extend far beyond health care. But for hospital executives wondering what it all means for their operations, there are two key pieces emerging at the moment— while the Court upheld the individual mandate as a tax, it may make it difficult for the federal government to withhold existing Medicaid funds from states that refuse to participate in the law’s Medicaid expansion. So while millions of additional paying customers are expected to enter the health care system via the mandate, longstanding concerns about uncompensated care will remain an issue for hospital balance sheets.
For the past two weeks, people following healthcare reform have waited eagerly for the Supreme Court to issue its decision on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It hasn’t happened yet, and everyone with an interest in the nation’s healthcare system continues to wait and see what the Court’s ruling will be.
News Release
For Further Information:
Cory Stewart
Cookerly Public Relations
Phone: (404) 816-2037
Email: cory@cookerly.com
Accounting and Financial Solutions Provider Continues Rapid Expansion
(Atlanta, GA – March 8, 2012) – Warbird Consulting Partners today announced the addition of two new managing directors who will fill key leadership positions in the company. Chris Bitler, an expert in investment banking and former principal of The Breckenridge Group in Atlanta, has been named Warbird’s chief operating officer. Doug Fenstermaker, a healthcare finance expert and former chief financial officer for HealthEast Care System in St. Paul, Minn., has been named vice president of healthcare and will direct the company’s healthcare practice.
“A key difference in Warbird’s service offering is the depth and breadth of experience our partners can provide to clients across numerous disciplines and in a variety of industries,” said Mike Draa, CEO and managing director of Warbird Consulting Partners. “Chris and Doug both have an unmatched level of expertise that will benefit our clients and we are very proud to have them join Warbird.”
Chris Bitler has 14 years of experience in providing clients with strategic consulting and investment banking services, including merger and acquisition and institutional capital raising advisory services. He has worked with hundreds of C-level executives and board members to assist in the development of strategic initiatives relating to product/service differentiation, applying technology to business processes, and enhancing market position to maximize shareholder value in capital raising, corporate merger and acquisition advisory assignments. At The Breckenridge Group, Bitler advised corporations in the successful execution of transactions involving mergers and acquisitions, corporate divestitures, distressed and bankruptcy situations, fairness opinions, private placements of senior debt, subordinated and mezzanine debt, and equity capital. Bitler earned a bachelor of science in finance from Georgetown University.
As COO, Chris will assist with leadership of the company’s financial institution and government practices. Warbird’s consulting services for banks, broker-dealers, insurance companies and more, encompasses advanced accounting and financial expertise applied to regulatory reporting created by consent orders, including independent review of loan documents, modifications and servicing. Through the process of regulatory reporting, Warbird assists financial institution clients by providing more transparency and cost certainty. The government practice offers clients a number of services, including mortgage delinquency analysis and forecasting, loss share compliance, regulated institution audits, trade facilitation, and investor outreach.
Doug Fenstermaker has nearly 30 years of healthcare experience, primarily in executive management and leadership positions. In addition to his time at HealthEast Care System, Fenstermaker was senior vice president for managed care and revenue management at Legacy Health System in Portland, Ore., and also served as CFO of Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, overseeing that organization’s merger into Legacy Health System. Most recently, he worked with Stockamp & Associates, which was acquired by Huron Consulting Group in 2008. Fenstermaker has a bachelor of arts in economics from the University of Southern California, Santa Barbara and a master of public administration in financial planning from California State University, Long Beach.
As vice president of healthcare, Fenstermaker will lead Warbird’s healthcare practice, which includes the CFO Consulting Network, a nationwide network of hospital and health system CFOs that assists hospitals and physicians with complex accounting and financial projects as well as expert strategic advice. Warbird’s professional advisors include highly experienced healthcare CFOs who understand the time and resources necessary to deploy efficient accounting and finance teams while balancing the many other financial management requirements of today’s fast paced healthcare industry. The CFO Network provides clients with a tested, trusted resource to help manage the additional workload and strain resulting from healthcare reform and the growing complexities of today’s healthcare regulatory environment.
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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.
On December 30th, 2011, an investor group and the executive team of the Accounting Advisory Practice of Huron Consulting Group, Inc. (“Huron”) completed the acquisition of certain operating assets of Huron’s Accounting Advisory Practice. The newly-formed entity has been named Warbird Consulting Partners, LLC (“Warbird” or the “Company”).
Warbird is a professional services firm that provides scalable, value-driven accounting and financial advisory solutions to its clients. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the Company specializes in providing proven, experienced professionals and project management services to Fortune 500 companies, healthcare organizations, government agencies, financial institutions, and small to medium-sized businesses. Warbird’s services include:
- A unique range of finance and accounting advisory project management services for clients operating in a diverse range of industries and geographic locations;
- A Healthcare CFO Consulting Network that matches seasoned healthcare CFOs with incumbent health system and hospital CFOs to provide peer-to-peer support, advice and insight; and
- A diverse suite of advanced accounting, regulatory compliance and cost management services for financial institutions and government agencies.
To learn more about Warbird, please visit their website at warbird.wpengine.com.
The Breckenridge Group, Inc. (“Breckenridge”) acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Warbird in connection with the transaction.
About The Breckenridge Group, Inc.
Founded in 1987, Breckenridge is an Atlanta-based investment bank dedicated to advising middle-market companies in connection with mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and institutional private placements of debt and equity. Drawing on a diverse base of knowledge and expertise, Breckenridge provides sophisticated financial advisory services to a wide range of middle-market companies – a universe that often has the greatest need for but the least access to professional advisory services.
Breckenridge’s professionals have completed more than 250 financial advisory assignments representing over $25 billion in transaction value. This breadth of advisory experience spans several industries and all transaction types. Breckenridge provides clients with the skills, information, and analyses to evaluate and execute complex financial transactions.
To learn more about our expertise, please contact us at (404) 965-1600 or visit our website at www.breckenridgegroup.com. You can also reach any member of our firm via email by selecting their name below.
News Release
For Further Information:
Cory Stewart
Cookerly Public Relations
Phone: (404) 816-2037
Email: cory@cookerly.com
Company provides clients with on-demand, value-driven solutions that improve business efficiency, financial performance and risk management
(Atlanta, GA – January 23, 2012) – With finance, healthcare and other industries becoming increasingly more complex and regulated, Warbird Consulting Partners has formed to deliver scalable, value-driven accounting and financial solutions to a wide array of businesses and industries. The Atlanta-based company was previously part of Huron Consulting Group’s accounting advisory practice (and formerly known as professional services firm Callaway Partners).
Warbird provides a suite of business services delivered by highly-experienced professionals to help improve the financial performance of Fortune 500 companies, healthcare organizations, government agencies, financial institutions, and small- to medium-sized businesses. The company is already working with several high-profile corporations and government agencies.
“We are very excited about this new venture,” said Michael Draa, CEO and managing director of Warbird Consulting Partners. “Warbird will offer clients the same outstanding service and value they have come to expect, but with additional levels of talent and experience and a wider breadth of services. Our staff of expert consultants knows firsthand the accounting and finance challenges our clients face daily.”
Areas of Expertise
Warbird’s five key areas of expertise include accounting advisory, the Healthcare CFO Consulting Network, financial institutions, government agencies and On-Demand Services.
- Accounting Advisory: Warbird’s accounting advisory services include financial operations, project management, accounting and SEC reporting, mergers and acquisitions, divestiture analysis, and restructuring and turnaround.
- Healthcare CFO Consulting Network: This nationwide network of seasoned hospital and health system CFOs assists hospitals and physicians with complex accounting and financial projects as well as expert strategic advice. The CFO Network provides clients with a tested, trusted resource to help manage the additional workload and strain resulting from healthcare reform and the growing complexities of today’s healthcare regulatory environment.
- Financial Institutions: Warbird’s services for banks, broker-dealers, insurance companies and other financial institutions encompasses advanced accounting and financial expertise applied to regulatory reporting created by consent orders (including independent review of loan documents, loan servicing, and loan modifications) to increase transparency and cost certainty. Warbird also provides financial risk assessments, asset servicing and management, mortgage solutions and other services.
- Government Agencies: This practice provides clients with a number of services including mortgage delinquency analysis and forecasting, loss share compliance, regulated institution audits, and trade facilitation and investor outreach.
- On-Demand Services: The firm engages talent and expertise across each practice area and formulates highly-experienced, scalable teams to address a wide range of accounting/financial issues. Team members have extensive and relevant experience, and teams are built to “ramp-up” quickly and efficiently to help Warbird clients meet their short- and mid-term needs.
“Warbird’s Healthcare CFO Consulting Network and On-Demand Services truly separate us from other firms in the marketplace,” Draa added. “Our CFO Network provides clients hands-on help from the most tenured, accomplished healthcare CFOs in the country. And our On-Demand Services, a proven specialty of ours, offers custom-built, rapidly deployed project teams that help our clients’ save considerable money and time – no matter the accounting or financial issue.”
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.