Like many roles in healthcare, revenue cycle leadership has evolved over the years, with a focus on developing a high-performing and educated team as the technology landscape becomes increasingly prevalent.
“When I started in the industry, revenue cycle wasn’t quite a thing,” Paul Chausse Jr., senior vice president of revenue cycle and chief revenue cycle officer at Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital, said on Becker’s “CFO and Revenue Cycle Podcast.” “You were a biller. You were a patient accounts person. We became technical masters, and that’s how you got promoted into leadership. Leadership was second.”
Mr. Chausse said that model has flipped, with many revenue cycle leaders now coming out of school with MBAs and certain leadership frameworks that can carry advantages. However, he argued it is time on the floor, not just the education, that helps get the work done.
His advice to young leaders entering the revenue cycle workforce: Practice patience, tackle the learning curves head on and work to understand exactly what the people you manage are doing.
“They still have to spend time learning how the sauce is actually made,” he said. “The other nonnegotiable for this next generation is deep AI fluency. … The leaders who will win are the ones that combine technical [knowledge] along with good leadership and AI forward thinking.”
Lynn Ansley, vice president of revenue cycle management at Moffitt Cancer Center, echoed Mr. Chausse’s thoughts. With 13 years at Moffitt, Ms. Ansley has seen up close and personal the ways RCM leadership has evolved.
“We think of ourselves as technical experts,” she said on Becker’s “CFO and Revenue Cycle Podcast.” “To be honest, to be an effective RCM leader, it’s a little bit less about what you know and it’s how you lead others through what you know.”
Ms. Ansley said when she first dove into revenue cycle work, someone gave her a piece of advice that stuck: “It’s not about knowing all the things. It’s about asking the right questions.” This advice has stuck with her for the last decade.
“Revenue cycle management is a mammoth when you talk about headcount and process,” she said. “To lead an effective team, it’s to really just know where your experts are, but to focus on your leadership skill. I always say, ‘First who, then what.’ A great revenue cycle is nothing without its people.”
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