MGMA Member Spotlight: Navigating patient financial responsibility and healthcare leadership with Julie Mobley

The MGMA Member Spotlight Podcast recently featured an engaging conversation between host Daniel Williams and guest Julie Mobley, founder of Gemstone Consulting and practice administrator at Coleman Internal Medicine in North Alabama. Mobley will also be presenting at the upcoming MGMA Operations Conference in Las Vegas, where she’ll share her expertise on navigating patient financial responsibility and chronic care management. In this episode, Mobley offered valuable insights into healthcare leadership, patient financial education, and the unique challenges of managing remote teams.

A Journey into Healthcare Leadership

Julie Mobley’s career path into healthcare leadership wasn’t linear. Initially planning to become a speech pathologist, she pivoted after realizing the challenges of managing parental expectations during clinical training. This shift led her to explore software testing and, eventually, healthcare technology.

"I interviewed for a position as a software tester with an EMR company, and they ended up hiring me as an implementation specialist and trainer," Mobley shares. "This was back in the early days of EMR adoption … it gave me an opportunity to learn the ins and outs of clinical practice and the challenges they face, especially related to technology."

Her experience evolved from working with clinical teams to navigating revenue cycle management, ultimately preparing her for her role as a practice administrator. Mobley credits her involvement with MGMA for much of her growth: "I remember seeing [my executive director's] CMPE study materials in her bookshelf, and when she resigned, she gave them to me. That piqued my interest … So later, I went on and got the certification as well."

The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

Mobley emphasizes the critical role of emotional intelligence in effective healthcare leadership. "It's one thing to be a leader, but it takes entirely different perspectives and skills to be an effective leader," she explains. ‘When there's an issue or a problem occurring, go to the source, go to the people who are experiencing that issue, and listen.”

Emotional intelligence, combined with active listening and tailored communication strategies, has helped her team navigate the complexities of healthcare operations. Mobley uses DISC personality assessments (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness) to foster better communication among her team members. "It's so encouraging to watch a room light up when they start to understand people's personality differences, because one of the things that goes hand-in-hand with that is understanding their communication style and their communications perspective."

Managing Remote Teams: Challenges and Strategies

With a chronic care management team working remotely, Mobley has firsthand experience with the challenges of maintaining engagement from afar. Below are some key strategies she shares to effectively manage remote teams:

• Quarterly on-site meetings: Foster collaboration and communication among remote team members.
• Virtual engagement: Develop strategies for keeping remote employees connected and motivated.
• Team-building activities: Use creative approaches to build team culture in a virtual environment.
• Leverage technology: Use various tools to facilitate remote work and communication.
• Maintain human connections: Emphasize the importance of personal touch in a digital workspace.

The Growing Challenge of Patient Financial Responsibility

One of Mobley’s key presentation topics at the MGMA Operations Conference will be patient financial responsibility. She highlights the increasing complexities practices face, especially after the final rule preventing patient debt from being reported to credit bureaus. This not only creates internal issues like financial strain and administrative burdens, it also creates external problems when patients experiencing significant medical debt become reluctant to seek needed care.

“Communication is key,” Mobley emphasizes. It's important anytime you are changing something or implementing a new policy, try to get that communicated in as many forms as possible.”

Mobley’s practice has adopted proactive strategies to address this issue, such as:

• Multi-channel communication: Utilizing text messages, social media, and appointment reminders.
• Policy updates: Informing patients about changes in fees or financial policies.
• Accessibility of information: Making financial policies easily available to patients.
• Welcome Packets: Using simple infographics helping patients understand their financial responsibilities before treatment, especially with new services offered.
• Onboarding videos: Sharing your practice history and communicating expectations for patient financial responsibility

Mobley’s practice is also leveraging new technologies, such as the CoreVista system, when disclosing costs to the patients. "We worked with the vendor on creating a financial policy and take into account the financial hardship below the poverty level," she says. “So when we get ready to perform that test, we give a copy of that to the patient and make sure that they consent to that before doing it.”

For more information, tune in to the full MGMA Member Spotlight Podcast episode featuring Julie Mobley, and consider attending her sessions at the MGMA Operations Conference in Las Vegas, March 2-4, 2025.

Resources:

• MGMA Operations Conference: The show will be held March 2-4, Bellagio Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, NV

Julie Mobley will be speaking twice at the show: 

-Bridging Gaps: Chronic Care Management and Value-Based Care (Monday, March 3, 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM PDT)

-Navigating Patient Financial Responsibility (Monday, March 3, 10:15 AM – 11:15 AM PDT)

• Connect with Julie Mobley on LinkedIn