Nola Wyatt, vice president of revenue cycle for St. Louis-based Ascension, has worked in healthcare revenue cycle for more than three decades.
Prior to her current role, Ms. Wyatt spent 16 years at Nashville, Tenn.-based Saint Thomas Health, part of the Ascension Tennessee Health Ministry.
Ms. Wyatt recently answered questions from Becker's Hospital Review about her greatest challenges as a revenue cycle leader and how she would improve the revenue cycle process.
Note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity.
Question: What's your favorite part about being a revenue cycle leader for a healthcare system?
Nola Wyatt: I have the privilege of working with talented teams to best serve those who trust us with their care by ensuring we deliver an optimal experience. It is an honor to know our work contributes to increasing access to safe and quality care, and assists in Ascension's efforts to provide compassionate and personalized care.
Q: What is the biggest challenge you're facing as a revenue cycle leader?
NW: As we remain committed to our quadruple aim of delivering exceptional health outcomes; ensuring an exceptional experience for those we serve and providers; and making healthcare delivery more affordable, our revenue cycle team is transitioning our operations to have a more consumer focus to support our care delivery.
Q: What is one of your goals this year?
NW: Our primary goal is to fulfill on our promise of standardizing our operations to ensure consistent performance delivery and consumer experience to all.
Q: What is one thing you'd do to improve the revenue cycle process?
NW: Throughout the entire healthcare industry, providers have the opportunity to enhance our interaction with consumers by being active listeners and helping those we serve understand their financial responsibility. We all know the patient billing experience is an integral part of a patient's satisfaction, so we must be continuously mindful of our financial information communication with consumers.
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