Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Monica N. Wharton, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare

Transcript

Monica N. Wharton, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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The most important health care decisions don't happen
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in isolation.
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They happen when leaders come together.
0:08
Becker's sixteenth annual meeting brings together more than
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3,500
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hospital and health system executives this April in
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Chicago.
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With 800 speakers from Ascension,
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Cleveland Clinic, CommonSpirit and more, the conversations get
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real. Leaders will share how their scenario planning
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for policy shifts, breaking through value based care
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barriers, and building clinical teams that translate
0:46
This is Laura Dierda with the Becker's Healthcare
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podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
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Monica Wharton, executive vice president and chief operating
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officer at Methods Le Bon Air Healthcare.
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Monica, it's a pleasure to have you on
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the podcast today.
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Thank you, Laura, and looking forward to participating
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today.
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Absolutely. Now I'm excited for our conversation because
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I know it's such a transformational time in
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health care today, and we'll be talking a
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little bit about some of the cool things
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you've been up to over the last year
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or so and then what you are thinking
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about for the future. But before we dive
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in, can you tell us a little bit
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more about yourself and about the disabled owner?
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Absolutely. Yeah. So
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I have the privilege of serving as our
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executive vice president and chief operating officer
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here at Methodist LaVona Health Care. I've been
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part of our organization
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for nine years, and it's hard to believe
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so much time has passed.
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What gets me up every morning is every
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day, I'm inspired by the commitment and dedication
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of our associates
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who come to serve our patients and our
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communities.
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Just to give you a little background around
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about our organization,
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we've been around for a hundred and eight
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years here in Memphis, Tennessee,
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and we are deeply rooted in this community.
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We have an extraordinary team, as I mentioned
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earlier,
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of 12,000
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associates, and we call our our employees our
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associates,
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and 2,000 providers who support six hospitals,
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including the region's premier pediatric hospital,
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Arlebonneau Children's Hospital,
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as well as ambulatory
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surgery sites,
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outpatient
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facilities,
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home health, hospice residents,
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and a broad range of physician and specialty
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practices.
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One thing I'm really always,
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excited about highlighting about our organization
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is just the breadth of clinical expertise within
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our system.
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We've been recognized for our advanced work in
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transplant,
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heart and vascular care, neurology,
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cancer treatment, and then, of course,
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our comprehensive
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pediatric specialties.
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And notably, our Lavalier Children's Hospital
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serves as the only pediatric trauma center in
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the entire region,
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which is a responsibility
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we take extremely seriously.
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But what truly distinguishes us, I think, among
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our competitors
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and and those
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across the community.
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It's just the combination of high end clinical,
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capability we have,
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but it's with a mission driven purpose to
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improve
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every single life we touch. And that's the
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lives of both our associates and our patients
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as well as the larger Memphis community.
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That includes the life saving work we do
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within our facilities,
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but also our programs,
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our partnerships,
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and the outreach efforts that extend far beyond
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in our community.
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Memphis is home.
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Our patients are our neighbors,
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and our calling is to meet their needs
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with compassion,
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excellence,
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and a commitment to equity.
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Yeah. Such a great reminder and so helpful
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to understand all of the different ways that
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you're working within the organization to make an
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impact on the health of the community and
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wellness of the people that you serve. Now
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I'm curious. When you think back of the
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last year or so, what was the most
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important initiative you led? What did you do
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and what were the results?
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Yes. Laura, I'm happy to share with you.
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While there were a number of initiatives
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last year during 2025,
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I would say one of the most significant
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pieces of work I helped lead last year
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was what we call our Path Forward initiative.
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Path, and that's p h t h,
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stands for planning, alignment,
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transformation, and high performance.
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This is an initiative that's really foundational
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and shaping
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how we think about the future of our
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organization.
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As you know, health care is changing rapidly.
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And for us, continuing to serve the Mid
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South effectively,
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we needed a strategic
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system wide approach to how we strengthen our
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financial position,
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optimize our operations,
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and really build long term sustainability.
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I'm sure that's something on everyone's mind,
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given all the challenges currently in health care.
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So our path forward journey is involved really
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involves taking a hard look,
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at where efficiencies
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could be gained across our systems,
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where duplication
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of processes existed,
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and then where those opportunities
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exist for optimization.
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For us, it wasn't just about cutting cost.
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It was about becoming stronger,
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more agile, and more aligned as a health
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care system.
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One major piece of our path forward was
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really our decision to transition our revenue cycle
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management
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outside of our organization.
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As you know, outsourcing is really never anything
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you do lightly.
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We hold ourselves accountable to examine whether the
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partnerships we examine are gonna be beneficial for
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everyone,
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including our associates first, our organization,
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and most importantly, our patients.
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We took a hard look at our revenue
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cycle, and this was after going live on
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Epic
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in 2024,
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where we now had greater transparency
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into our overall operations.
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And from that, we made a decision to
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go with Ensemble.
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I'm proud to say, although still new in
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the partnership,
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we're already starting to see some excellent examples
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of what it looks like when you outsource,
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a decision as thoughtfully and strategically,
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as we did within our organization.
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One, we're already,
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starting to see some significant improvement in our
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revenue cycle performance.
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We're seeing better data visibility
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and actionable metrics through our EHR.
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The staff who transitioned to Unstoppable
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have already given tremendous feedback about the training,
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the structure, and support they've received.
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We've experienced some of our highest cash collection
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days since 2018,
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and our accounts receivable
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continues to decrease,
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which is a clear signal of a faster,
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healthier cash flow.
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This for our organization
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has been tremendous.
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It's also allowed us to see improvements across
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our entire organization.
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And this, quite frankly, is allowing us to
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reinvest in access
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and recruitment and our technology
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and our priority clinical programs.
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For us, it wasn't just about a financial
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lift. It was really about long term financial
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sustainability
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and operational transformation for our organization,
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both of which we believe well positions us
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for the future.
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This is just one of the many initiatives
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that I'm proud of, but our path forward
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is certainly something that builds on the strength
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of our organization.
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That makes a lot of sense. And, you
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know, it's really helpful to understand that decision
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behind outsourcing
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revenue cycle and then the outcome that you've
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seen as a result of your partnership with
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Ensemble. And I think it's so critical to
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have those partners that work well and understand
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your needs and then are able to help
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you deliver on the administrative side so you
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can focus on the clinical care side as
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well.
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I'm curious. When you think about 2026, what
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are some of the big priorities and headwinds
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you have on your mind?
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Well, as as you know, the reality that,
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health care has just been facing some increasingly
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intense challenges
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really over the past decade.
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Challenges that as we know really accelerated,
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through the pandemic, and they continue to persist
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today.
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Whether we're focusing on workforce or regulatory challenges,
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we know that there are a lot of
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challenges before us.
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On a national scale, we're still seeing, we're
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seeing continuing reductions in reimbursement
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and regulatory pressures,
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particularly around Medicare and Medicaid.
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We're also seeing rising Medicaid Medicare advantage denial
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rates,
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which create operational burden and financial uncertainty.
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And, of course, as I mentioned, there are
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the workforce strains, both in nursing
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and across a lot of the essential clinical
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and support roles,
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that existed even before COVID,
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but now have been more advanced.
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These challenges have been felt across the, the
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country.
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But here in Memphis, they've really hit us
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close to home
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because we serve a population
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that relies heavily on government programs.
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Despite these headwinds,
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I'm incredibly optimistic about 2026.
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We're preparing to launch a new strategic plan,
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and we're calling that our vision 2030.
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And central to that is gonna be growth
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and access for our organization.
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We're really asking ourselves
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some big questions.
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For example, how do we expand access points
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across the Mid South? How do we create
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more convenient, affordable entry points into our system?
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How do we meet patients where they are,
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physically,
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financially,
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and emotionally?
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How do we continue delivering high quality care
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at the lowest possible cost?
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The work we've done through our path forward
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has strengthened our foundation.
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And this new strategic plan, our Vision twenty
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thirty, will help us build on that foundation
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so that we can continue to grow,
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to innovate,
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and to truly elevate the patient experience across
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our entire
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organization.
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Wow. That's a huge goal and and definitely
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very exciting to have that opportunity, to continue
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to tackle some of those big challenges. I
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know so many health systems have when you
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think about the workforce, when you think about,
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working, you know, in changes coming around for
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the policy and CMS and everything else. But
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to have that kind of focus and drive
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and and vision to grow and innovate,
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is really, really cool.
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When you think about the next year as
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well, what do you think will be the
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hardest thing you'll have to do given all
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of these challenges and and and changes that
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are gonna occur?
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Well, it it's gonna be our,
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our need to continue to focus on upper
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operationalizing,
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some of the efficiencies we're trying to put
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in place
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as well as managing our cost across our
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health system.
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This is significant for our organization,
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especially given some of the headwinds
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I mentioned earlier.
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But if you think about it, health care
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is really a human industry.
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It is the work that is built on
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compassion,
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that's built on trust and relationships.
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People rely on us at their most vulnerable
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moments, and we're honored to be there for
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them.
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We also have the responsibility
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to make sound financial and operational decisions
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because the strength of our organization
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determines our ability to care for our patients
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today
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and five, ten, twenty, and thirty years from
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now.
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Balancing those two realities is probably one of
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the hardest parts of health care leadership.
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However, we know that the improvements we're putting
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in place
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are putting us on the right path as
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an organization.
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We must continue to make decisions that are
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gonna be focused on our patient experience
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and keeping our patients at the center.
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We're also focused on, excuse me, supporting and
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protecting our associates
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and ensuring the financial sustainability
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of the organization.
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All of this requires tremendous discipline.
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It requires transparency,
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and it requires a willingness to make difficult
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decisions
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for the sake of the long term health
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of the organization.
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It's a different time in health care. I
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think we all have to acknowledge that.
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But I think our commitment
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of putting the patient at the center
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will always be our north star to lead
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us in the right direction.
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That's fantastic to hear. And and having that
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type of commitment, I know, can make a
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big difference for your patients and population no
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matter what happens.
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You know, you're able to do that. Before
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we wrap up, I wanted to ask, where
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do you see some of the best opportunities
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for growth as well?
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You know, just going back to our strategic
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plan, our vision 2030,
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For us, those growth opportunities are about how
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do we expand access for our patients.
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So we we have patients who wanna receive
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care from Methodist Livonia Healthcare. We know the
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demand is there, and our focus is gonna
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be on removing barriers and opening additional doors.
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I'm just gonna share a few ideas on
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where we are prioritizing.
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We wanna ensure we're growing clinical programs and
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expanding appointment availability.
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We know there's tremendous opportunity to expand specialty
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care,
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particularly in areas like cardiology,
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neurology,
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pediatrics,
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and outpatient services.
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We're looking at our workflow
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redesign,
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scheduling improvements, and clinical capacity modeling
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to ensure that our patients can get
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what they need and when they need it.
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We know this will strengthen our philosophy of
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Methodist.
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We'll see you now.
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This is all about access,
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responsiveness,
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and a consistent patient experience across every touch
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point.
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Whether a patient walks into one of our
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hospitals,
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visits our primary care clinic,
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or connects through a virtual care visit,
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we want them to feel that we are
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ready
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and available to serve them now.
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It's also important that we continue to meet
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patients where they are.
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Through community partnerships and outreach,
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embracing digital tools, and expanded reach, We're exploring
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new avenues to connect with patients.
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Growth for us isn't just about expanding facilities
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or services.
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It's about expanding trust.
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It's about connection
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and convenience
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for the people who rely on us most,
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and we wanna make sure we're able to
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serve their needs.
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That's fantastic. Monica, thank you so much for
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joining us on the podcast today. This has
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been such an amazing conversation, and I look
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forward to seeing you at our annual meeting
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in April. I I know you'll be speaking
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on a panel, and so it'll be really
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cool to dig a little bit deeper into
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some of these things you talked about here
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as well as continue to,
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connect and grow and and keep this conversation
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going.
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All right. Well, thank you, Laura. Appreciated the
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time with you today. Always a pleasure.