Directors
Yvonne Focke
Yvonne Focke has over 25 years of hospital operation and consulting experience.
She is best known for her understanding of the clinical and financial aspects of
the healthcare industry, promoting cooperation and achieving mutually beneficial
and solvable goals in quality, service, compliance and reimbursement.
Utilizing exceptional assessment skills, Ms. Focke guides performance improvement
activities in multiple areas including organization redesign and expense reduction,
innovative program and system development, strategic planning and enhancing reimbursement.
Ms. Focke has received the “Laureate” distinction award from the ComputerWorld Honors
Program for her part in the development of software to improve registration accuracy
and was an advisor for the HealthCare Advisory Board’s gold book, “Capturing Lost
Charges” regarding denials management.
Uniquely qualified to perform on a diverse range of assignments in a matrix environment
and adept at relationship management, cultural change and strong mentorship, Ms.
Focke has built working teams who have exceeded best practices. Access and care
management has been her focus in revenue cycle where reduction in rework results
in faster payment and denial avoidance. She has given many national presentations
on denials, observation, access and audit management, consumer driven health plans,
and has assisted hospitals in preparing for recovery audit contractor reviews.
Ms. Focke is currently the director of Revenue Cycle and Integrated Care Services
for St. Elizabeth Healthcare, a 5 hospital system in Northern Kentucky. She holds
her MBA from Xavier University and her BSN from the College of Mount St. Joseph.
She is a licensed RN, a certified professional coder, is certified as a health access
manager, is on the board for her local HFMA chapter, participates as a member on
HCPro’s RAC Advisory Panel, and is a member of ACMA and NAHAM.
Renee George
Renee George is Vice President of Revenue Cycle for Premier Health Partners. In
this role she is responsible for patient access, health information management and
the business office for four hospitals: Atrium Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital,
Miami Valley Hospital, Upper Valley Medical Center and approximately 20 ancillary
locations around the region. She has been a member of HFMA for over 10 years. Renee
is a current HFMA Board member and the chair of the Revenue Cycle Education Committee.
Renee was raised in Northern Kentucky and has worked in various aspects of the revenue
cycle in Atlanta, Georgia and Cincinnati, Ohio including St. Joseph’s Health System,
Mercy Health Partners and Premier Health Partners. She has a bachelor’s degree in
health administration from University of Kentucky and a master’s degree in business
from Georgia State University.
Andrea Kovall
Andrea Kovall is Vice President of Payor Relations for UC Health. In this role she
is responsible for commercial and managed care contracting for the system’s hospitals
and University of Cincinnati Physicians. Andrea moved into this position in October
2009 after working as Director and Director of Financial Analysis in the same department
since early 2005.
Andrea was born and raised in the small town of Roseburg, Oregon – where she learned
at a young age the value of hard work in her family’s restaurant. She completed
her undergraduate work at Portland State University and received a Masters in Healthcare
Administration from Oregon State University. After graduating from Oregon State,
Andrea and her husband moved to New York City where she was the contract compliance
manager for the 1,200 physician IPA of the Columbia-Cornell Medical Colleges. Andrea’s
career then led her to a consulting position with Price Waterhouse Coopers’ Healthcare
Consulting Practice and later, a managed care position at New York Presbyterian
Hospital System. She moved to Cincinnati in 2004 and joined the Health Alliance.
Andrea joined HFMA’s New York chapter in 2000 and was appointed to the Board of
Directors for the Southwest Ohio HFMA chapter earlier this year. Andrea values the
networking opportunities HFMA offers, as well as the valuable continuing education
programs.
Andrea and her husband Rhett live in Anderson Township with their six year old son,
Max. Andrea enjoys reading, playing Wii and spending time with her family during
her free time. She greatly misses the Pacific Northwest and makes a point of taking
at least one trip a year to the Oregon Coast.
Chris Lah
Chris is a twenty year veteran of Children’s Hospital as of this year with a total
of twenty-seven years in the health care industry. While most of his health care
career has been in patient accounts, he is currently the Executive Director over
Business Office Service. Chris is most proud of my staff and what we’ve been able
to accomplish over the past few years. The Children’s contact center recently was
named to the J D Power Roundtable of Champions for the 5th consecutive year. Also
this past year, his Financial Counseling unit won the Customer Relation Metrics
(CRM) service excellence award beating out quite a few Fortune 500 companies in
the process.
On the personal front, he lives in Amberly Village with his wife (Lee). His also
has two sons, Joey and Evan. Joey is currently a sophomore at Miami University.
Evan is currently attending Purcell Marian High as a freshman. His kids aren’t the
only ones involved in school. Chris recently returned back to finish his MBA and
is currently attending Xavier University. When he finds the time in between the
work and school, he and Lee like to travel.
David McAdams
Dave McAdams, is a CPA, Xavier MBA, Miami alum, and has been in the local healthcare
finance field for 26 years. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer of The Lindner
Center of HOPE, in Mason Ohio. Dave was previously Vice President of Finance for
The Deaconess Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio, and served as Director of Finance for
Middletown Regional (now Atrium) Hospital, Middletown Ohio. Throughout his career,
Dave has been responsible for administering major Operations and Finance related
activities including, Business Planning and Development, Managed Care, Patient Financial
Services, Patient Access, Decision Support, Reimbursement, Budgeting, Managerial
Accounting, Materials Management, Information Services, Coding, and Case Management.
Dave has lead initiatives within these organizations, implementing physician alignment
strategies, costing systems, data repositories, and managed care strategies, critical
to market positioning, Planning, and Operations.
The philosophy he follows is to manage resources such that healthcare professionals
are provided the best tools and support possible in delivering care to their patients.
That philosophy extends to Dave’s belief that all healthcare professionals need
to be knowledgeable in their industry’s dynamics. Dave has been a longstanding Board
member, and Treasurer of the Southwest Ohio Healthcare Financial Management Association.
Dave is also Past President of the Kidney Foundation of Greater Cincinnati.
Carole Taylor
Carol Tenenholtz
Phone: 513-520-9879
email: cstenenholtz@fuse.net
Carol Tenenholtz owns and manages Carol Tenenholtz, Inc., a healthcare financial
consulting firm. Carol Tenenholtz, Inc., founded six years ago, provides financial
consulting services including contract compliance, revenue enhancement, financial
pro formas and budgeting tools. Her clients are community hospitals and academic
medical centers including their related physician group practices.
Prior to forming Carol Tenenholtz, Inc. she worked in the healthcare practices of
the Chicago and Cincinnati offices of Arthur Andersen for 16 years. Carol has a
BS in Accounting from Indiana University and is a CPA. She was the Indiana CPA examination
gold-medal winner. She has been a member of HFMA since 1991. Currently, Carol serves
as the Secretary of the Southwestern Ohio Chapter. Carol has served on the HFMA,
education committee, membership committee, was the co-chairperson of the ProAction!
Committee and received the Follmer Bronze Award.
Scott Long