How long have you worked at RealMed?
I have been with RealMed since November 1999. Several members of the talented and wonderful RealMed team have been with the company for a very long time as well.
To me, it seems that we are just starting our journey towards a better healthcare information technology for tomorrow.
Why did you choose to be part of the RealMed team?
Honestly? Initially, it was the attraction of coming to a start up dotcom. It wasn’t altruistic, but, as I settled into RealMed, it became clear that there was immense opportunity in healthcare for:
- adoption of technology and automation
- transparency, visibility and access to information
- customized services for the provider offices
- large reduction of expenses in healthcare
RealMed has maintained its focus on these areas over the years and has gained recognition for the work done in these areas.
Describe your favorite RealMed service.
My favorite RealMed service is Real-Time Claims Adjudication. It was my favorite in 2000 and it is still my favorite because that is where most of our clients can find an immediate benefit.
If an eligibility check is performed when a patient walks in the door, a claim is submitted and adjudicated in real-time after service has been rendered and the patient responsibility is collected before the patient leaves the office. Imagine the amount of work that has been avoided.
There is no need to call the insurance carrier regarding a patient’s coverage at some later point in time – the practice would have determined the correct eligibility before providing service.
There is no need to call the insurance carrier regarding the disposition of a claim – it has already been finalized and the results presented back to the practice at the point of service.
There is no need to chase the patient to collect their portion of the responsibility for the service – it has already been collected before the patient walked out of the office.
Talk about taking the administrative burden out of healthcare!
What is your most memorable customer experience?
At a recent user conference in May 2009, a lady walked up to our CEO and me and introduced herself as a wife who ran a practice for her doctor husband. She said that she had talked to RealMed in 2000-2001 and we had turned her down as a client due to unavoidable circumstances. She approached us again in 2005 and we took her on as a client.
She went on to say “RealMed has changed my life. I am so glad that we were able to sign up for your service as your client. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be without RealMed!”
Wow! It was great to get such accolades directly from a client! We pride ourselves in servicing our clients equally, whether they are a one doctor practice or the largest academic medical center in the country. We have all types, and it was great to get validation of this service from our clients!
What is something most people don’t know about you?
I worked for Jim Davis, the Garfield cartoonist, for 8 years.
When I say this, people automatically assume that I was an artist or a cartoonist. I worked on software for Jim and was responsible for bringing their store to the Internet in the mid-90s. Jim was a visionary and a great leader. He had a lot of interest and investment in technology, including sponsorship of a Digital Drawing Board project – a high-end multi-media authoring station – with the MIT Media Lab and Digital Equipment Corporation, in the early 90s. We have a lot of fun and I learned a great deal.