Her Story
About Lori
I work as a revenue cycle consultant for a company that provides comprehensive consulting services to senior living organizations. In my role, I help clients improve their operations by reviewing their billing practices, bad debt percentages, payer mix, and insurance contracts. When we take on a new client, I interview them to understand their needs, get access to their systems, and start reviewing their information. We call it peeling back the layers of the onion as we drill down into what practices they can implement to improve their performance and help them be successful. What has always been most satisfying to me is helping our senior citizens gain an understanding of what benefits they have, how their benefits work, and putting those benefits into real-time use for them. I've gotten lots of hugs from lots of little old ladies over the years. My career in senior healthcare and senior living began in 1998 when I started working in a local nursing home's business office shortly after earning my associate's degree. I moved up through Medicare billing and operations, eventually serving as an interim administrator, which sparked my interest in pursuing a degree in healthcare administration. From there, I transitioned into regional and corporate roles, always striving to be the best at what I do.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Lori
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my parents, who set very strong examples for me. My dad had a huge influence on me - he's done many great things through his life, and every time he got to the top of his game, instead of stopping, he'd switch to something else that he wanted to learn, and then he'd get to the top of his game there. When he was in his 50s, he decided he was too old to be a fast-pitch softball player anymore. He was a pitcher for softball for several years, got to the top of that game, and decided he couldn't get any better and didn't want to be known for going downhill. So he gave up softball and went out and adopted a bunch of wild Mustangs and started breaking Mustangs. Watching him always wanting to achieve something new really shaped me. My mom is amazing too - last weekend, my sister and I took her on a 7-mile hike up in the Arizona mountains, and she's in her 70s. It was a steep, rocky trail, and she was just a trooper through the whole thing. My parents taught me about just going after what you want and always hanging in there.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received was to surround myself with people smarter than me. This advice came from one of my early mentors, Bruce Bowen, who was my boss early in my career. He was amazing and really did a lot to grow me as a person and in my role. He was very influential in my development, and that piece of advice has stuck with me throughout my career.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Definitely come in with compassion. We're dealing with an aged population, and you really need to come in with an openness to hear them. I remember when I very first started in this industry, I would spend a lot of time on my breaks - instead of sitting down in the employee break room, I'd go sit in a resident break room and just talk. I learned so much from the residents from the get-go. If you really want to know the best way to serve them and meet their needs, you've got to sit down and just talk to them. That's where you'll learn the most and be able to make the biggest impact.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I think that integrity stands way up there. That's something that I hold to be very important - integrity in your work and integrity in your personal life. It's a value that guides everything I do, both professionally and personally.
Keep Exploring
More Influential Women · Iowa
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.