Board and Committees

Michele Bear, DBA, MBA, CHRI, CRCR, CHC, CPC,  Executive Director of Revenue Integrity, Baptist Health, Jacksonville, Florida
michele.bear@bmcjax.com
Bear is a revenue cycle executive director who oversees revenue integrity, chargemaster, revenue cycle reporting and data analytics, revenue cycle quality assurance, revenue cycle policy management and revenue cycle team member engagement at Baptist Health in Jacksonville, Florida. She has been with Baptist Health since 2019, serving in various revenue cycle leadership roles encompassing the front, middle, back, and support service initiatives. She has more than 30 years of experience in operational, compliance, and revenue cycle functions for hospital and physician services.

Erin Brearley Cutter, MBA, CPC, COC, CHRI, CRCR, Revenue Cycle Consultant, Integrated Revenue Integrity, Sturbridge, Massachusetts

Cutter is a seasoned healthcare revenue cycle and revenue integrity executive with over 15 years of leadership experience across hospitals, academic medical centers, and physician group practices. A former Revenue Integrity and Coding Director and currently serving as a Revenue Cycle Consultant through Integrated Revenue Integrity, she has led system-wide initiatives in charge capture optimization, denial prevention, strategic pricing, and Charge Description Master (CDM) management. Her work has resulted in measurable improvements in revenue performance and operational efficiency. Erin holds an MBA in Healthcare Informatics from Southern New Hampshire University and is certified in multiple areas of coding and revenue cycle management. Erin has held multiple leadership roles within the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) Northern New England Chapter, including Chapter President, and currently serves on the Advisory Board of the National Association of Healthcare Revenue Integrity (NAHRI).

Michael de Armas, MSHIA, CPC, CRCR, CSBI, Director of Revenue Integrity, AdventHealth, Altamonte Springs, Florida

de Armas serves as the Director of Revenue Integrity at AdventHealth, where he combines over 16 years of healthcare revenue cycle experience with a passion for process improvement and data-driven decision-making. His specialties include chargemaster management, charge auditing, and revenue cycle analytics, all focused on enhancing financial accuracy and compliance.

He has played a pivotal role in aligning clinical operations with revenue strategy. Prior to joining AdventHealth eight years in billing and revenue cycle operations, developing a solid foundation in healthcare finance.

Known for his collaborative leadership style and deep technical knowledge, de Armas works closely with cross-functional teams to drive sustainable results. He is also a strong advocate for mentorship and continuous improvement, leveraging analytics tools and dashboards to bring transparency and actionable insights into revenue cycle performance.

Stephanie Ellis, RN, BSN, COC, CHRI, Revenue Integrity Director, UChicago Medicine Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois

Ellis is the revenue integrity director with responsibility for oversight of various divisions within the revenue cycle, including revenue integrity at UChicago Medicine Medical Center. Prior to transitioning to the revenue cycle, she had experience with fraud and abuse investigations for the Illinois Medicare MAC.  She has 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry, including utilization review, outpatient facility coding compliance, denials management, and operations. 

Sarah L Goodman, MBA, CHCAF, COC, CHRI, CCP, FCS, President/CEO, SLG, Inc.
slgincconsulting@aol.com
Goodman is president/CEO and principal consultant for SLG, Inc. in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a nationally known speaker and author on the charge description master (CDM), outpatient facility coding, and billing compliance, and has more than 30 years’ experience in the healthcare industry. Goodman has been actively involved and held leadership roles in a number of professional organizations on the local, state, and national levels. 

Ronald Hirsch, MD, FACP, CHCQM, CHRI, Vice President, R1 Physician Advisory Services
rhirsch@r1rcm.com
Hirsch is vice president of R1 RCM in the physician advisory services division and a general internist and HIV specialist. Previously, Hirsch was the medical director of case management at Sherman Hospital in Elgin, Illinois. He is certified in healthcare quality and management by the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians. In addition, he is a member of the American Case Management Association, a member of the American College of Physician Advisors, and a fellow of the American College of Physicians. His is the co-author of The Hospital Guide to Contemporary Utilization Review, published by HCPro.

Lisa Kanivetsky, BA, CPC, CHRI, Revenue Integrity Director, Tufts Medicine
Elizabeth.Kanivetsky@tuftsmedicine.org
Kanivetsky is the revenue integrity director at Tufts Medicine. After graduating from the University of Minnesota she spent a few years trying out different opportunities until the revenue cycle and IT bug caught her. Prior to joining Tufts Medicine, Kanivetsky worked for twenty years at several healthcare organizations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Los Angeles, California.

Tiffany LaPlante, RMC, RMM, System Manager Revenue Integrity - Charge Capture, Bronson Healthcare, Kalamazoo, Michigan

LaPlante is an experienced healthcare revenue integrity leader with over 30 years in revenue cycle management. She holds certifications as a Registered Medical Coder (RMC) and Registered Medical Manager (RMM) from the Medical Management Institute. As System Manager of Revenue Integrity–Charge Capture at Bronson Healthcare, a leading healthcare system serving communities across southwest Michigan, she oversees system-wide charge capture operations. In this role, she partners with clinical, non-clinical, and revenue cycle teams to ensure compliance, optimize workflows, and deliver targeted education and support.

LaPlante currently serves on the NAHRI Leadership Council and multiple committees, where she actively contributes to shaping best practices, driving innovation, and fostering collaboration across the revenue integrity community. She is passionate about shaping the future of revenue integrity through peer engagement, strategic innovation, and advocacy for continuous improvement and professional growth.

Kay Larsen, CHRI, Revenue Integrity Specialist, Adventist Health Glendale
kay.larsen@ah.org
Larsen is a revenue integrity specialist at Adventist Health Glendale in Glendale, California. She has enjoyed 17 years working in healthcare, including many years as a CDM coordinator. Larsen’s favorite part of her job is working with departments maximizing revenue through education and charge review. In her years of work, she has experienced standardization projects, extensive price reviews and conversion of financial systems and still is passionate about revenue integrity.

Irene Sachakov, CRCR, CSPR, CSBI, CHFP, CSAF, CHRI, Director of Revenue Integrity/Charge Capture, Northeat Georgia Health System

Sachakov is the director of revenue integrity/charge capture at Northeast Georgia Health System. She has over 15 years of experience in healthcare revenue cycle including healthcare IT, workflow optimization and automation. She has experience leading multiple projects to completion that have improved internal operating efficiencies and the cash flow of the institution as whole. While her main focus has been in revenue operations, Irene has touched clinical, and patient centered workflows that have allowed her to have a well-rounded understanding of the impact that these areas have on the downstream revenue cycle operations. Irene has a BS degree in Public Administration from Northern Arizona University and a MBA in Healthcare Management from Capella University. She is also EPIC certified in CDM and Contract Management, holds certifications in organizational leadership, CRCR, CSPR, CSBI, CHFP, CSAF, CHRI and is an active member of HFMA. She hopes to raise awareness of the integral role revenue integrity plays in the success of healthcare organizations..

Jugna Shah, MPH, CHRI, Founder and CEO, Nimitt Consulting Inc.
jugna@nimitt.com
Shah is a nationally recognized expert in health care policy with over 25 years of experience in addressing health care systems’ complex challenges. Shah leads Nimitt’s team of experts who help providers, payers, professional organizations, and industry to understand and thrive under existing payment systems and to create new models. Shah applies her in-depth expertise in payment systems and provider operations to identify effective reimbursement strategies. She has had notable successes in in medical oncology and most notably in stem cell transplant and CAR-T cell therapy reimbursement improvements. She led a multi-organization advocacy effort that successfully secured coverage for novel cell therapies, obtained new CPT and ICD-10 diagnosis and procedure codes, and revised payment policies for these innovative technologies to accurately value these medical advancements appropriately. Shah has been involved with Medicare’s Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRGs) for her entire career, and was part of the team that created what became Medicare’s Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS), first implemented in 2000. 

Denise Williams, COC, CHRI, Senior VP, Revenue Integrity Services, REVANT Solutions
dwilliams@revantsolutions.com
Williams is senior vice president of the revenue integrity division and compliance auditor at Revant Solutions in Raleigh, North Carolina. She has more than 35 years of healthcare experience, including a background in multiple areas of nursing. For the past 20 years, Williams has been in the field of coding and reimbursement and has experience performing E/M, OP surgical, ED, and observation coding chart reviews for both facility and professional providers based on documentation, compliance, and reimbursement perspectives. She is a recognized chargemaster (CDM) expert, providing assistance with all aspects of chargemaster set up and maintenance. She has contributed content for several books and numerous OPPS/APC articles for HCPro and other publishers

Caroline Znaniec, Managing Director, Protiviti, Baltimore, Maryland
Caroline.Znaniec@protiviti.com
Znaniec is Protiviti’s healthcare revenue cycle practice leader. She has extensive professional consulting and industry experience in the healthcare industry. Znaniec works with various healthcare provider organizations including hospitals, health systems, home care, physician specialty groups and clinics, free-standing ambulatory care providers, payers, private equity groups, and investors. Prior to joining Protiviti, she led the development and client delivery of revenue integrity consulting services for CohnReznick LLP, Grant Thornton LLP and Navigant Consulting, Inc. She has experience serving in industry roles such as corporate compliance officer and director of revenue integrity for integrated health systems. She is a recognized industry speaker and author in the areas of revenue integrity, revenue cycle transformation, regulatory compliance, electronic health record design, implementation and optimization, and data analytics.

Debbie Mackaman, RHIA, CPCO, CCDS, Regulatory Specialist, HCPro
2016–2019
Debbie was the developer of HCPro’s Medicare Boot Camp^®—Critical Access Hospital Version and Rural Health Clinic Version. She was a long -time instructor for HCPro’s boot camps with many years of experience in the health care industry, including in Montana. She was a former president of the Montana Health Information Management Association, a Registered Health Information Administrator and Certified Healthcare Compliance Officer. Debbie passed away in 2020 from a long-time illness and is dearly missed by her colleagues and friends in the healthcare community.