LOCATION: 2200 N. Mayfair Rd., Suite 200, Wauwatosa, WI 53226
WEBSITE: www.fimed.com
Year founded: 1993
Product or service offered: Health care revenue cycle management
Projected 2009 revenue: $7.1 million
CEO, President/Owner(s): Adrian Velasquez, president and owner; Christine Krause, vice president and owner.
Leadership team: Bruce Bartelt, CFO; William Gebhard, director of operations and IT; Rosa Rodriguez, manager, IT and imaging; Kimberly Rasmussen, manager, lab division; Willy Roby, Lynn Gregory, Credell Magee, managers, physician sivision; Renee Frick, manager, cleint services; Lisa Velasquez, manager, PR and social media; Mary Wiczynski, manager, EDI; Tonique Shirley, employee benefits administrator; Shelly Clemins, manager, internal bank of Fi-Med management; Paul Spencer, compliance/denial management officer; Barbara Clem, manager, Pacific/West Coast region; Julie Vigos, manager, intermountain region
Target clientele: All health care providers, i.e., independent physicians, clinics, labs, ambulatory surgical centers and hospitals in the United States
Business organization memberships: Medical Group Management Association, American College of Healthcare Executives, Healthcare Compliance Resources, and Comprehensive Medical Practice Analysts, American Academy of Professional Coders, Metropolitan Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce, Council of Small Business Executives
What has fueled your company’s growth?
The complexity of the health care market. Health care providers are faced with declining reimbursement, continually changing managed care processing rules and the inability to receive timely reimbursement from insurances. Fi-Med offers technology that allows our health care providers to provide quality care to patients in a compliant and profitable manner. We offer technology to assist them to measure managed care plan profitability, CPT and HIPAA compliance,quick payment of claims, i.e., assistance in growing their business. Fi-Med provides the business tools and expertise so that the provider can concentrate on quality patient care.
What is the biggest obstacle to your company’s growth?
Fi-Med has handled our growth well through the years. Our organization is extremely proactive in dealing with change. We understand that if we don’t change we will become extinct or become obsolete. Every year we add numerous products to our service line to keep up with the changes our clients are facing in health care. Conversely, the health care market has been flooded with organizations that provide false promises. Health care providers are often fearful of making a mistake or feel that they need to control every aspect of their organization. Therefore they continue to limp along in this truely overwhelmingly complex health care environment. Though we offer a product that is priced agressively, providers are reluctant to even give us an opportunity to present our portfolio of services to them. This is very frustrating to all of us at Fi-Med because we know that this road will lead to the elimination of the independent physician.
Do you plan any changes in your company in the upcoming months?
Fi-Med is always changing in some fashion. Our staff knows that when they become comfortable in any task that they will be assigned a new one. Our myriad of services will continue to grow with new technology in our internal bank of Fi-Med management; continued refinement of automated processes to review managed care payments for appropriateness; roll-out of completely automated claim processing. New business development includes the acquisition of our competitors.
Who are the business people, locally or nationally, whom you admire? And what traits do those people exhibit that make you admire them?
There is not a specific person. I admire anyone who is willing to risk failure to become more, contribute more, leads by example and inspires others. This can be a child facing new challenges in school, a mom juggling her family responsibilities, a grandparent facing the end of their life seeing the joy of the day. The emotion of living to contribute inspires me.
What is the outlook for the business conditions of your industry over the next several months?
The health care industry is in a dynamic state of change. Short term will not be affected but the long term is very uncertain
What is your company’s key strategy for rising out of the recession?
Fi-Med has been very fortunate to experience continuous growth in revenue, profits and employment opportunities during these difficult economic times. To stay ahead of the recession, our management team looks at projected financials daily to compare to budget and adjust processes to remain profitable. We continue to improve our operations and systems daily. We look to technology to reduce errors and redundancy so that our employees are availilable for creative problem solving. Our technology allows us to take on more business, secure the future for our employees and produce a better product.
Congratulations from the strategic partner behind Fi-Med Management, Inc.
Michael I Sattell, CPA/CFF, CFE
414-273-0500
www.sattell.com
