What led me to healthcare was the draw to be part of the community. Hospitals are the great melting pot of our communities. The mission is to serve everyone no matter your race, socioeconomic status, or religion. Growing up, my mother and grandmother were teachers and were deeply involved in the community. I didn’t necessarily want to be a teacher myself, but I wanted to do work to support the community. While performing an internship as a 17-year-old in the emergency department at Akron Children’s Hospital it seemed to be a natural fit. The idea of serving others and working toward a mission greater than my own individual needs seemed to align with my personality.
I had worked with Sellers Dorsey in my previous position at a health system, and I thought there might be an opportunity for me here. What I loved then, and still love now, about Sellers Dorsey was that we are all about relationships. And to me, that really aligned with my own approach and philosophy – if you can’t build and maintain positive relationships you are going to have a very difficult time in both business and life. And the culture that Marty and Brian and the other leaders here at Sellers Dorsey have built really aligned with who I am.
And beyond that relationship-first approach was what we are focused on what our mission is – supporting the underserved. We support the individuals that slip through the cracks. In my previous roles with various health systems, we didn’t really have Medicaid strategy, and I always thought that was an interesting blind-spot, because of just how prevalent Medicaid would be in our patient populations. I really wanted to learn more about Medicaid and working with people with such a depth of expertise was a tremendous opportunity.
It was a great combination of culture and mission, so I took a shot, and I really love this organization.
At the end of the day, healthcare is all about the patient. If we aren’t impacting the patient and we’re not transparent about how we are impacting them, or not, then we’re falling short of our mission. That’s really what it means to me; impact is about putting the patient at the center and ensuring that we are improving things for them no matter what. Because if we positively impact patients, then we create a ripple effect on families and communities that reaches beyond the immediate effects of our work.
My superpower: energy, and the ability to focus it and impact people in a positive way. From starting programs and negotiating contracts, to driving change.
My kryptonite: not getting over focused and letting that energy burn out. Because I can really get obsessed over making something happen, and that can stop you from seeing the wins along the way that might be short of the ultimate goal, but are wins nonetheless.
I have been really fortunate to work with Mark Smith and Scott Allocco on our Medicaid Finance Sales team and working and learning the ins and outs of our sales process has been a terrific journey. It was really a matter of reinvention, moving from operations to sales and it gave me an entirely new perspective. Learning how we strategically work as a team to identify a potential client’s needs and guide them through the sales and contracting process. To learn that new set of skills and adapt and earn the faith and support of people like Mark Smith and Scott Allocco, consummate professionals who are so strategic and smart; that is something that I am really proud of.
That our firm helps hospitals stay viable. That is extremely rewarding because that really is deeply affecting the community in so many ways, the obvious of ensuring healthcare, but also by supporting the local workforce. We help them stay open; we keep people employed and keep communities healthy. That’s what is most rewarding in the big-picture sense.
For me individually, the work I do though? It’s understanding how to negotiate with clients, getting them to respond and work with you, especially when the deal might be stalled for whatever reason. To be successful you really need to get in the client’s shoes and understand what their pain points are, what their thought processes are. It really reinforces the importance of empathy and strategic thought.
Previously, I had always been on the other side of the table in that situation, so it was a complete change of perspective. And it has been very rewarding to make that transition and be successful in that new role.
Very simply, healthcare providers have to adopt innovative technologies faster. They need to utilize and adopt new technology appropriately and quickly if they want to achieve returns amid margin pressures and shrinking workforces. Early adoption of technology that streamlines the delivery of care.
I practice jiu-jitsu; I absolutely love it. Martial arts bring together three things that are really important for me: exercise, community, and the need to learn something new. Getting that activity and the chance to learn something new with a great community is just incredible.
My first job was in construction in Akron, OH. I worked on various crews: concrete, sewer, and water line. It was extremely hard, physical work in the hot summer and cold winter months. I am grateful for the opportunity as it allowed me to get through college and respect people in all walks of life.
My favorite thing to do is spend time with my wife and my kids. Whether that’s traveling, going to the theater, Phillies game, or any of my kid’s activities. I used to not even really like baseball, but my son started playing little league and since then I love it, it is fun because I get to do that with my kids.
There are so many good movies out there, but the one that stands out is A Bronx Tale, that one is phenomenal.
A few of my favorite books would have to be “Profiles in Courage” by JFK, “A First-Rate Madness” by Nassir Ghaemi, and “The Rise of Superman” by Steven Kotler. There are so many more but that is a good start.