Harris Healthcare Consulting, LLC

11/17/2025

Last week Paula Hazen from Arbor Bank and I co-hosted Medical Management Matchmaking 2.0 in Portland, OR and wow… I’m still smiling.

We had 27 attendees representing 21 clinics, and several people told us it was the best networking event they’ve ever attended.

One theme came through loud and clear: private practice IS ALIVE AND WELL 🎉 When you put highly engaged practice leaders and clinicians in a room together, you see exactly why — they’re creative, collaborative, and deeply committed to their patients.

And the best part? New referral relationships were created on the spot.

People left with new and real connections that will directly impact patients. That’s the kind of community-building I love to see.

Huge thank you to everyone who joined us with curiosity, generosity, and a willingness to play along with our networking game.

Here’s to stronger partnerships, thriving private practices, and better care for the communities we serve. ❤️‍🩹

08/10/2025

🌸 Exciting news in women’s health 🌸

Big news from my client Chidimma Abanulo and her team 🎉 Jessica Benedict, WHNP-BC has joined Femme Flôr Women's Pelvic Medicine in Hillsboro, OR!

Dr. Abanulo is a board-certified urogynecologist who founded Femme Flôr to give women a safe, welcoming space for pelvic health care. Known for her compassionate approach, she combines advanced surgical and non-surgical treatments with a genuine commitment to making every patient feel heard and understood.

Jessica is a women’s health nurse practitioner who is passionate about helping women feel comfortable, confident, and in control of their pelvic health 💜 Her warm, approachable style makes her a perfect fit for Femme Flôr’s mission of combining advanced treatment with truly personalized care.

✨ At Femme Flôr, you are not just another patient on a schedule. You are cared for in a spa-like private practice setting where your providers control the time they spend with you, the treatments they recommend, and the experience you have. No corporate quotas. No assembly-line visits. Just focused, compassionate care that puts you first.

From pelvic organ prolapse to incontinence, postpartum recovery to pelvic pain, you now have two incredible providers ready to help you feel your best

🌺 Femme Flôr is currently welcoming new patients.
💐 Learn more about the team or book your visit:

A well woman exam, also known as an annual gynecologic exam, is a routine medical visit to assess a woman’s overall health, detect any health problems, and provide preventive care.

07/12/2025

5 Years In and We're Just Getting Started!

There’s a lot of noise out there about everything that’s going wrong in healthcare, but that’s NOT what I’m hearing from the practices I work with. Instead, I’m seeing real wins. Real momentum. And private practices that are leaning in and growing, even in uncertain times. Let’s celebrate some good news together!

🎉 Harris Healthcare Consulting just turned FIVE.
I started HHC in July 2020 with a mission to help practices stay independent, resilient, and well-led. I’ve always believed that small practices can make a big impact—and five years in, I’ve seen it up close.

We’ve partnered with practices to launch, recruit, coach, and restructure. We've celebrated wins with confetti and weathered a few storms with Kleenex.

I’m so proud of the relationships we’ve built and the trust we’ve earned with over 100 clients across the country.

When I started HHC, I wasn’t just launching a business, I was betting on the idea that private practices could thrive with the right support. Five years in, that belief is stronger than ever. I started this work because I knew practices, and the people leading them, deserved better.

If you’re ready to build a practice that is strong, sustainable, and rooted in purpose, I’d love to help.

07/11/2025

"DellaCroce and Sullivan had repeatedly sued the insurer, alleging that it granted approvals for surgery but then denied payments or paid only a fraction of patients’ bills. They pointed to calls like the one Arch received as proof of the company’s effort to drive away patients. The aggressive legal attack, they knew, was fraught. Litigation against the $3.4 billion company would take a long time and a lot of money. The chances of winning were slight. 'You fight dragons at great peril,' DellaCroce would tell friends. But this September, after 18 years and several defeats in court, jurors found Blue Cross liable for fraud. They awarded the center $421 million — one of the largest verdicts ever to a single medical practice outside of a class-action lawsuit. In a statement, Blue Cross said it 'disagrees with the jury’s decision, which we believe was wrong on the facts and the law. We have filed an appeal and expect to be successful.'

The Blue Cross trial provides a rare opportunity to expose in detail the ways that health insurance companies wield power over doctors and their patients. Blue Cross executives testified that the breast center charged too much money — sometimes more than $180,000 for an operation. The center, they said, deserved special attention because it had a history of questionable charges. But the insurer’s defense went even further, to the very meaning of 'prior authorization,' which it had granted women like Arch to pursue surgery. The authorization, they said in court, recognized that a procedure was medically necessary, but it also contained a clause that it was 'not a guarantee of payment.' Blue Cross was not obliged to pay the center anything, top executives testified. 'Let me be clear: The authorization never says we’re going to pay you,' said Steven Udvarhelyi, who was the CEO for the insurer from 2016 to 2024, in a deposition. 'That’s why there’s a disclaimer.'"

April 12, 2025

Blue Cross authorized mastectomies and breast reconstructions for women with cancer but refused to pay the full doctors’ bills. A jury called it fraud and awarded the practice $421 million.

07/10/2025

"This apocalypse is happening throughout rural communities across the country. More than 100 rural hospitals have closed in the past decade, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform (CHQPR), a national policy center that works to improve health care payment systems and whose data have been cited by the Bipartisan Policy Center. About one-third of all rural hospitals in the country are at risk of closing because of financial problems. In Alabama, 23 rural hospitals—about half of all of them in the state—are at immediate risk of closing, according to CHQPR.

People often blame rural hospital closures on poor reimbursement rates from Medicare and Medicaid. There’s a reason for that assumption: Just about every hospital loses money on Medicaid and Medicare, since reimbursement rates are low nationwide. But hospitals like the one in Thomasville are struggling not because they serve a large share of poor patients or elderly people on these plans."

It's not just Medicaid or Medicare: Private insurance payments lag in rural areas.

07/01/2025

"The scheme ensnared more than 7,000 physicians, whose identities were used to order medical supplies without their knowledge, according to officials. It enmeshed legitimate companies that happened to share the same name as the alleged perpetrators, such as the Pretty In Pink Boutique in Tennessee, an unrelated cancer supply store that was so drowned by complaints, it posted instructions on how to report insurance fraud.

It frustrated accountable-care organizations — groups of hospitals and physicians that receive federal incentives to deliver high-quality, low-cost health care — which worried that they could collectively lose millions of dollars in payments because it appeared that they were failing to manage their patients’ health care spending. The National Association of ACOs, an industry trade group, publicized the alleged fraud last year. The CMS subsequently issued a rule to change how it paid for catheters and effectively protect the accountable-care organizations from the spike in catheter bills."

The U.S. government said it has busted the largest health care fraud scheme in history, which targeted Medicare and involved more than $10 billion in fraudulent claims.

06/08/2025

🌟 Leadership Lessons: Updated for 2025! 🌟
Helping healthcare leaders grow is some of the most meaningful work I do, and I’m proud to bring this course back for 2025. It is thoughtfully designed to give experienced supervisors and emerging leaders practical tools they can use right away.

This 4-week live, online course starts July 23 at 12pm PT and includes tips and tools on how to:

✅ Set healthy boundaries
✅ Delegate effectively
✅ Build high-performing teams
✅ Sustain engagement and momentum

💬 “This class gave me SO MANY new ideas!” — Past participant

🎯 NEW for 2025
✔️ Early Bird Rate: $395 if registered by June 30
✔️ BONUS: First 5 registrants receive a free 45-minute 1:1 coaching session to help apply what you’ve learned

👥 Perfect for supervisors, team leads, clinic managers, and aspiring healthcare leaders.

📎 Check out the flyer below for full details!
💌 To register, email info@harrishealthcareconsulting.com
Let’s invest in your leadership journey together.

05/19/2025

"Economics correspondent Paul Solman is exploring the impact on communities in Massachusetts after a private equity firm bought struggling hospitals. In his second report, he looks at how private equity's increasing role in health care is affecting patients."

Economics correspondent Paul Solman is exploring the impact on communities in Massachusetts after a private equity firm bought struggling hospitals. In his second report, he looks at how private equity's increasing role in health care is affecting patients.

05/13/2025

🎪 Ringmasters of Healthcare 🎪
I'm thrilled to be speaking at and attending the Pacific Northwest Medical Management Conference this June in Vancouver, WA!

This year’s theme, "Ringmasters of Healthcare," will cover vital topics like legal & legislative changes, hiring talent, risk management, and artificial intelligence.

My session, "It’s Lonely at the Top" is an interactive and practical class focused on creating and maintaining a professional network. We’ll explore how healthcare leaders can build connection, share resources, and create lasting support systems to help us thrive, even in the most challenging roles.

This conference is an incredible opportunity to learn, grow, and connect with peers. I can’t wait to dive into these discussions and collaborate with fellow healthcare leaders!

Register Here - https://www.pnwhealthcareleadersconf.com/secure/events_register.cfm

05/12/2025

"For many federal workers, the return to the office after years of working remotely that the Trump administration mandated may have been bumpy, or it may have been welcome. And some people are finding the workplace is now permanently altered: Zooms aren’t going anywhere, and suits and heels might feel like a relic of the past.

But can we talk about another aspect of office culture? It might be okay these days to dress more casually than before, but — sorry, my fellow cubicle dwellers — it is still taboo to microwave fish. And you absolutely have to clean up after yourself in the office kitchen.

Office etiquette isn’t about crooking one’s pinkie just right, of course, and it isn’t even just a matter of being considerate of your fellow humans (although that’s where it starts). Even the most self-serving desk jockey should get on board, experts say, for a good reason: their own career.

For those of us who have spent years eating chaotically (and privately, with only our cats to judge), the rules governing how people should handle food in the office are worth brushing up on. We enlisted etiquette experts and workplace gurus to remind us about the basics of tending to one of the most basic needs — feeding oneself — while in the company of co-workers."

Now that more people have returned to the office, here’s how to handle eating at your desk, sharing a kitchen, hosting a celebration and more.

03/30/2025

Renegotiating Payer Contracts: A Game Changer for Your Practice 💼💡

Did you know that a recent survey showed that nearly 40% of medical practices don’t negotiate payer contracts? 😱

However, those who do often see significant financial benefits. We have seen firsthand the positive impact of renegotiating payer contracts for our clients.

Some of our recent results:
💰 60% increase in reimbursement for practices renegotiating with key payers and enrolling with local IPAs
💰 21% increase in reimbursement rates for certain specialties within the same practice
💰 12% average increase in reimbursement from commercial payers
💰 Up to 17% year-over-year revenue increase from renegotiated contracts

These results are not isolated—regularly revisiting payer contracts can offset your rising expenses and drive revenue growth. If your practice isn’t actively engaging in this strategy, you could be leaving money on the table.

We know that the financial outcomes of renegotiation can vary widely but ALL are worth pursuing.

The first step is to organize your contracts and understand what you are getting paid, the terms of your current agreements, then go after those raises you deserve.

Ready to see how renegotiating your payer contracts can help your practice thrive? Let’s connect! 📞

03/12/2025

"Odette Bolano, the former CEO of Saint Alphonsus Health System, a St. Luke’s competitor, said health care institutions have historically been reluctant to take on anything with political implications. They often stay neutral because they care for all patients regardless of politics.

But Bolano, who led the Catholic-based system for six years, said everything seems to have taken on political undertones in recent years. She said health systems now have to take difficult positions when they feel something keeps them from delivering safe care."

St. Luke’s, Idaho’s largest health system, was outspoken in defending its staff during a backlash against masks and vaccines. It also sued right-wing figure Ammon Bundy — and won. Now it’s backing its doctors on the abortion front.