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Negotiation, relationships, and career growth

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Contract terms, rates, and payer mix

Process

Making contracts pay as written

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Contracting, denials, revenue cycle and more

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People-Portfolio-Process Field Guide

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Process

The Process pillar: making signed contracts pay as written, including implementation, denials, underpayments, credentialing, and payment integrity.

The Denial Nobody Owns Is the One Costing You the Most

The Denial Nobody Owns Is the One Costing You the Most

Why payer contracting must collaborate across patient access, coding, billing, collections, and revenue integrity to close the revenue cycle's most expensive blind spot

Kevin W. Barron
Nobody Was Checking. One Analyst Found $2 Million.

Nobody Was Checking. One Analyst Found $2 Million.

The most innovative payment methodology means nothing if nobody checks whether it works. Without that, it's not an innovation. It's an assumption.

Kevin W. Barron
Front-Line Staff Are Costing You Millions. It's Not Their Fault.

Front-Line Staff Are Costing You Millions. It's Not Their Fault.

How healthcare organizations can turn payer relationships into revenue strategy: denial reduction, cash acceleration, and staff education as infrastructure

Kevin W. Barron
Your Payer's Directory Is Wrong. Your Contract Doesn't Care.

Your Payer's Directory Is Wrong. Your Contract Doesn't Care.

Why the most-used document in managed care gets the least attention by your contracting team.

Kevin W. Barron
You Negotiated With People. A Computer Denied Your Claim.

You Negotiated With People. A Computer Denied Your Claim.

Your appeal rights were written for a clinician who would read the chart. The denial came back in eleven minutes, so in this case, nobody did.

Kevin W. Barron
Your UR Nurse Holds Your Best Payer Contract Evidence

Your UR Nurse Holds Your Best Payer Contract Evidence

Your best enforcement record already exists. It's sitting in a queue on the wrong floor, in front of someone nobody thought to ask.

Kevin W. Barron
Credentialing Delays Are a Revenue Problem, Not Paperwork

Credentialing Delays Are a Revenue Problem, Not Paperwork

Credentialing and provider enrollment delays create unpaid claims. Why enrollment is a financial lever and a contract enforcement issue, not paperwork.

Kevin W. Barron
Most Denials Aren't a Billing Problem. They're a Contract Problem.

Most Denials Aren't a Billing Problem. They're a Contract Problem.

Why most denials point back to the contract, and how to enforce the terms you already negotiated

Kevin W. Barron
Payer Relations and Patient Access Are One System on Two Floors

Payer Relations and Patient Access Are One System on Two Floors

Seven ways to connect contracting and patient access so the terms you negotiate actually hold up at the front desk

Kevin W. Barron
Using AI in Payer Contracting? Build the Sandbox First

Using AI in Payer Contracting? Build the Sandbox First

Why a public-source contract negotiation playbook is the safest way to start using AI in payer contracting

Kevin W. Barron
The Contract You Signed Isn't the Contract You're Getting Paid On

The Contract You Signed Isn't the Contract You're Getting Paid On

Why administrative friction, not fee schedules, is the real managed care battlefield now

Kevin W. Barron
Payment Integrity Audits Don't Have to Be a Fight

Payment Integrity Audits Don't Have to Be a Fight

How payers and providers can turn audits from a source of friction into a shared framework for fairness, transparency, and accurate payment

Kevin W. Barron
Three Decades. Three Pillars. One System for Payer Strategy.

Three Decades. Three Pillars. One System for Payer Strategy.

People, Portfolio, and Process, the proven framework behind multi-billion-dollar payer portfolio results

Kevin W. Barron
Bring Revenue Cycle In Before You Negotiate, Not After You Sign

Bring Revenue Cycle In Before You Negotiate, Not After You Sign

Six practices for aligning revenue cycle leaders with your contract negotiation team, before the ink dries instead of after

Kevin W. Barron
Payer JOC Meetings Fail When They're Just a Formality

Payer JOC Meetings Fail When They're Just a Formality

Seven practices that turn Joint Operating Committee meetings into an actual tool for managing payer relationships

Kevin W. Barron
The Negotiation Isn't the Hard Part of a Payer Contract. The Implementation Is.

The Negotiation Isn't the Hard Part of a Payer Contract. The Implementation Is.

A phase-by-phase checklist for integrating a new managed care agreement into your revenue cycle, from signature to steady state

Kevin W. Barron
Most Medical Necessity Denials Come From a Silo, Not a Clinical Problem

Most Medical Necessity Denials Come From a Silo, Not a Clinical Problem

Five ways collaboration between Utilization Management and Managed Care Contracting can cut denials for notification and medical necessity

Kevin W. Barron

What Readers Say

“Managed care strategy and negotiations for hospitals and other provider groups has always been an apprentice model. This is great content that helps deepen your knowledge of this vital work, and highlights the new issues and approaches that the current dynamic environment requires. Kudos to Kevin for bringing this to life.”

Brandon Edwards

Brandon Edwards

CEO (Retired), Unlock Health | Partner, Oxeon

"Kevin has a unique ability to take complex payer relations and managed care contracting issues and turn them into practical, relevant insights. ... That is what I value most about Kevin’s content: it isn’t just informative and educational; it gives healthcare leaders something they can actually use."

Valerie Daniel, MBA, CHFP, CRCR, CSPR

Valerie Daniel, MBA, CHFP, CRCR, CSPR

Director, Revenue Cycle - Baylor, Scott & White Health

"Payers get away with so many interferences that go unchecked, this gives us the ammunition to push back and hold them accountable instead of just absorbing the fallout."

Michelle McGinnis, BBA, MHA

Michelle McGinnis, BBA, MHA

Director, Managed Care - UT Health, San Antonio

In the Media


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