Schramm Consulting Welcomes New Associates to the Team

Schramm Consulting has welcomed several new senior associates to our consulting team this quarter. These experts are increasing the breadth of services we offer to support our clients in hospice and palliative care. Our new associates bring with them decades of experience in hospice finance, regulatory compliance and risk management, palliative care practice startup and hospice operations. Joining the firm in recent months are:

Brad Borbidge, CPA

Brad Borbidge joins us after four decades of home health and hospice industry experience and excels at helping clients improve operations and margins. Using his prior experience as a CFO, he has developed key operational indicators that predict financial profitability for hospice providers. These indicators are used to assist clients in identifying operational opportunities to improve financial performance while not compromising patient outcomes. Brad routinely presents to management teams and senior leadership throughout the year on operations and industry matters. In addition to financial and operational benchmarking, Brad has particular expertise in:

• Mergers and acquisitions, including valuations, financial projections and due diligence (both financial and operational)

• Operational consulting for process improvement

• Interim management

• Feasibility studies, including hospice residences and inpatient facilities

John Thoma

We are delighted to add John Thoma to our group of hospice experts this month. Prior to consulting, John served as CEO of Transitions LifeCare in Raleigh, North Carolina, a hospice, home health and palliative care organization that serves more than 11,000 clients a year.  John has led startups in palliative care, primary care, and home care. As leader at Transitions LifeCare he oversaw the growth of its hospice inpatient facility, community grief center, pediatric and adult palliative care and hospice services. John has developed a roadmap for building and sustaining palliative care programs for children and adults over the long term. John supports clients with deep expertise in:

•  Business plans for palliative care and primary care practices

• Hospital palliative care partnerships

• REACH ACO and MSSP ACO contracting

• Preparing for value-based payment models

• Succession planning for senior executives 

Ruth Coté, MSN, RN

A diligent healthcare manager with more than 20 years’ experience in hospice and home health, Ruth Coté has a proven track record of assisting hospice agencies with a broad array of compliance and risk management support. Over her decades of experience she has helped hospice providers achieve initial accreditation with CHAP, conducted clinical record audits as part of due diligence during mergers and acquisitions, and supported multiple hospice agencies in ending MCR provider-specific probe edits within 3- 6 months of initiation. Ruth works both remotely and on-site to provide:

• Compliance risk assessment

• TPE Audit support

• Assessment of IDG and patient visit procedures

• Mock certification surveys

• HIPAA compliance review and risk assessment

Please join me in welcoming Brad, John and Ruth. To discuss your organizational planning needs, please call us at 703-533-0416 or see our website’s Contact page to directly schedule a time for a free consultation.

Sue Lyn Schramm, MA

Principal