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Transition Planning

June 23, 2015 by CW

Midtown Business Radio

Transition Planning

00:00 / 00:59:37

Transition Planning

I sat down with NOWaccount CFO, Archie Jones and his colleague, NOWaccount Chairman, John Hayes. They stopped by to share some thoughts on how business owners need to start planning for how they intend to transition their business when it comes time, whether that’s selling it to a buyer or passing it to family members.

John and Archie talked about some of the common missteps business owners make that can complicate or delay sale of a business, or even cause the sale to fail. We talked about how important it is to choose capital sources carefully, taking a few minutes to discuss factoring, business loans, and NOWaccount’s innovative merchant services option that gives the business access to their accounts receivable cash and preventing the need to acquire debt.

We discussed how important it is for business owners to insure they are on the same page with all partners with regard to what the plan is for the “end game”—sell or transition the business to family. Archie and John shared the pros and cons of various business structures such as LLC’s versus C Corp, for example. Three topics of conversation that owners need to have: How will the company be operated? Will all members/partners have roles or equal votes in decisions? How much revenue will be taken for salaries for partners? What is the “horizon” for deciding if/when to sell if that’s the goal?

John and Archie shared a number of critical points that make a business very attractive for a seller (or unattractive). Archie talked about how important it is for business owners to educate themselves on the potential market for buyers of their business when they go to sell.

Special Guests:

Archie Jones, VP of Finance/CFO of NOWaccount

MBA General Management, Harvard Business School
Previous Principal and Charter Member, Parthenon Capital
Member, Board of Directors, AIT Worldwide Logistics
Founder, Tubman Ventures

John Hayes, Chairman of NOWaccount

JD, Law, Emory University School of Law
Previous CEO/Chairman, FTRANS Corp.
Founder and Former CEO, OneCoast Network
Founded Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) at Georgia Tech

Immigration Law

June 16, 2015 by CW

Midtown Business Radio

Immigration Law

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Immigration Law

On this week’s show I hosted Karen Weinstock, founder and Managing Attorney for Weinstock Immigration Lawyers, based in Atlanta. She shared her own personal story of being an immigrant to the US from Israel and how she felt she made some missteps that delayed her ability to achieve her US citizenship, along with gaining the ability to begin to practice her profession here.

These experiences led her to ultimately decide that immigration law was a specialty that would allow her to help others who are immigrating to the country as well as businesses who need to bring workers to the country to meet the skill and cultural understanding of their business to the US.

Weinstock Immigration Lawyers is a premiere immigration law firm specialized in Karen’s words, “…helping companies and individuals achieve their American Dream.” Their team of experts has over 100 years of combined experience. Weinstock’s legal team solves their clients’ immigration problems by providing them with the highest quality legal services.

The Weinstock Immigration Lawyers specialize in all immigration issues, including work visas, green cards, U.S. citizenship, deportation and immigration court representation, immigration appeals, PERM labor certification, and all general immigration matters.

Special Guest:

Karen Weinstock, Founder/Managing Attorney, Weinstock Immigration Lawyers

LLB, Law, Hebrew University, Israel
Author, H1b Visa Book 2009
Former Managing Attorney, Siskind Susser PC
Fluent, English Hebrew
Professional-Working Proficient, Spanish

Greenway Health

June 16, 2015 by CW

Health Connect South

Greenway Health

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Greenway Health

A couple of topics that have come up repeatedly over the course of weeks since we started the Health Connect South Radio show: Population Health and Interoperability. On this week’s show we sat down with health IT expert, Mark Janiszewski, EVP of Product Management for Greenway Health.

Mark shared how the company has recently introduced new solutions that are aimed at facilitating better population health management initiatives. Recent changes in the law are placing greater requirements for focus on preventive health and patient outcomes over the older disease-focused models that reimbursed on a fee-for-service basis.

Greenway’s platform gives providers access to data that empowers them to close gaps in care delivery and better manage a population’s high-cost problems such as diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses. Additionally, the company is providing a portal called, Greenway Exchange, that gives patients ability to see their health data, schedule appointments, and even interact with their care providers.

We talked about how the company helps their clients prepare for the coming implementation of ICD-10 coding requirements that are currently set to go into effect in October 2015. The new coding format will add a much greater degree of detail in documenting patient problems and treatments.

The goal of the ICD-10 changes is to facilitate research, improve outcomes through better case management, decrease medical errors, enhance public health, educate patients on costs/outcomes, and more.

Mark shared some of the challenges that health organizations face in meeting the expectations for the ICD-10 documentation. The company is helping to prepare their clients for the upcoming changes in coding.

“Greenway Health has always worked to empower our customers so they can deliver high-quality care while being financially sound,” said Tee Green, CEO of Greenway Health. “Never has that been more important given the rise of pay-for-performance, healthcare consumerism and a population with an increasing number of chronic conditions that requires coordination between multiple caregivers. Greenway Community enables providers to gain actionable insight into clinical and financial performance at all levels of the care continuum like never before.”

Greenway Health has been providing health IT solutions since 1977. Over time, the company has grown significantly, both organically and through merger. As an enterprise, the company delivers clinical, financial, and administrative information tools providers need to practice medicine the way they want to practice.

Greenway helps providers stay ahead of the complex regulatory requirements, maximize revenue and, most importantly, focus on their patients rather than on technology. The company accomplishes this through intuitive user interfaces, interoperability leadership to exchange clinical data and facilitate connected care, and a grass-roots service culture.

Special Guest:

Mark Janiszewski, EVP, Product Management, Greenway Health

Bachelor of Commerce, Concordia
UniversityGraduate Diploma, Public Accountancy, McGill University
Previous Director, Account Marketing, Nortel Networks
Former VP, Product Management, Revenue Cycle Solutions

Rimidi

June 11, 2015 by CW

Health Connect South

Rimidi

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Rimidi

This week we hosted the President and CEO of Rimidi, Dr. Luci Ide. Rimidi is a healthcare technology company that is working to help patients and health providers better manage diabetes. It’s an important endeavor—roughly 24 million Americans are diabetic and as many as 86 million more are pre-diabetic (slightly elevated fasting glucose levels).

Based on current trends, 1 in 3 persons will have diabetes by 2050. And when you consider the costs associated with treating diabetes and the problems such as heart disease, stroke, and others that often come with it, as much as $.60 of every healthcare dollar are spent on this population.

The Rimidi platform is an application that allows patients to share sensor data from glucometers, fitness devices, and share nutritional data from apps such as My Fitness Pal with their providers via a portal link on the provider’s EMR.

The benefit of gathering real time health data and sharing it with the provider is that corrective measures can be taken sooner should trends show that glucose levels are not responding to the care plan as expected. In this way the patient can more consistently maintain or improve their glucose levels and avoid damaging effects of high glucose such as neuropathy, renal failure, vascular disease, and others.

The company’s platform has been live for roughly a year and they are now actively looking for healthcare partners to deploy their Diabetes+Me application.

We also had a chance to speak with a patient ambassador, Joelle, for “Lights, Camera, Take Action On MS” by Genzyme. This public awareness event/campaign is working to increase awareness about multiple sclerosis. The event is coming to The Atlanta Marriott, Alpharetta, June 27, 2015, 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM ET.

At the event, guests will have the chance to engage with experts and hear tips on how to manage their MS. Beverly Layton, Registered Nurse, will be at each event to discuss the emotional impact of MS and techniques to help people alleviate feelings of guilt or depression. Alongside Beverly will be Certified Life Coach Caroline Craven, who lives with MS and is skilled in managing the stress that comes with the disease. Medical Exercise Specialist Monique Acton will also be at each event to share tips on how people living with MS can stay active and maintain energy.

Special Guest:

Luci Ide, MD, President and CEO of Rimidi

MD/PhD Emory University
Residency, Obstetrics-Gynecology, Magee-Womens Hospital
2014 Recipient, Ross Baird Award for Excellent, Village Capital
Former Associate, Monarch Capital Partners

Physicians Institute for Excellence in Medicine – Top Docs Radio

June 11, 2015 by CW

Top Docs Radio

Physicians Institute for Excellence in Medicine - Top Docs Radio

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Physicians Institute for Excellence in Medicine

This week I sat down with Bob Addleman, EVP of the Physicians’ Institute for Excellence in Medicine. We talked about how the organization, a subsidiary of Medical Association of Georgia, got its genesis. Bob shared how his passion for process improvement and healthcare ultimately led to him suggesting the development of an organization focused on improving the work environment as well as patient safety/outcomes.

The Physicians’ Institute for Excellence in Medicine (a nonprofit subsidiary of the Medical Association of Georgia) is a national leader in developing and managing collaborative educational projects, with a focus on outcomes-based and performance improvement activities. To date, the Physicians’ Institute has developed and managed 31 distinct initiatives representing work with over 400 organizations and more than 8000 participants located in 25 states focusing on an array of clinical areas. The Physicians’ Institute also provides leadership training and Patient-Centered Medical Home consulting to healthcare providers and organizations.

Physicians’ Institute is working with Georgia Academy of Family Physicians’ “Patient-Centered Medical Home University” (PCMHU). Now in fourth year, PCMHU has assisted more than 40 Georgia primary care practices achieve recognition from the National Council for Quality Assurance as a patient-centered medical home. Addleton is lead faculty member and practice advisor.

In June, Physicians’ Institute plans to launch new service called “Leadership in Practice,” which will provide leadership training and team development activities to medical associations, health systems, and physician organizations. Model has been adopted by thousands of organizations internationally and has over a 20-year history of application and research behind its design. Gives participants 360 degree feedback about their leadership behaviors. Addleton is a certified administrator and coach.

Physicians’ Institute is known for its collaborative grants system. For example, it awarded $1.2 million in grants to primary care organizations in five states for an ambitious project that is aimed at improving the care of patients experiencing chronic pain. Final report will be available in near future.

Physicians’ Institute has also been national leader in the FDA-mandated effort to promote Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) education for extended-release and long acting opioids as a member of CO*RE (Collaboration for REMS Education). Has worked with 15 state medical societies, including MAG, through a grant that was awarded to the MAG Foundation. To date, more than 3,000 physicians have participated in these efforts.

Addleton is the vice president (and president-elect) of the leading international organization is this field – the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions (ACEHP). He will become ACEHP’s president in January 2016.

Special Guest:

Bob Addleton, EVP, Physicians’ Institute for Excellence in Medicine

Doctorate in Educational Leadership, University of Alabama
Certified in Continuing Professional Development
Fellow and President-Elect, of the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions
Certified as a Quality Team Facilitator, Six Sigma Green Belt, and Lean Green Belt
Trainer for The Leadership Challenge©.
Faculty Member, Georgia Academy of Family Physicians’ “Patient Centered Medical Home University”, and is the Dean of the Georgia Physicians Leadership Academy.

Logistics Experts

June 9, 2015 by CW

Midtown Business Radio

Logistics Experts

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Logistics Experts

A few weeks ago, I hosted Jannine Miller, Director, Center of Innovation for Logistics at the Georgia Department of Economic Development. We talked about what the state of Georgia is doing to facilitate an effective, innovative infrastructure to support logistics needs for regional businesses.

On this week’s show I sat down with friend of the show, Bo Wilkins, of Sound River Advisors and three logistics experts who represent workforce management, third party logistics (3PL), and the legal needs for the vertical.

Page Siplon is the CEO of Team One Logistics. He was actually Jannine Miller’s predecessor at the Georgia Department of Economic Development. Team One Logistics is a workforce management company that supplies an outsourced option for logistics companies that want to achieve greater profitability and reduced risk. One of the largest (if not the largest) costs for a business comes from their SG&A which includes employee-related expense such as salaries, taxes, and worker’s comp.

Team One Logistics takes over (or provides) and manages the workforce for logistics companies and logistics divisions within enterprises. By allowing Team One to “own” and provide the employees such as truck drivers, forklift operators, etc., their clients give up the exposure to risk that comes with worker’s compensation, health benefits, and other employee-related costs. These expenses are often one of the largest if not the largest costs for a company.

Because their focus is exclusively on the human component necessary to make a logistics operation work, Team One is able to take advantage of their large workforce to get good benefits rates for their workers. They’re also able to manage worker’s comp risks effectively through focused education and policies for their workers that reduce risk for accidents.

Vector Global Logistics is an asset free, third party logistics company / NVOCC that provides exceptional sea freight, air freight, truck, rail, general logistic services and consulting for their clients. Their unique results-only culture brings a fresh and new approach to logistics.

Vector Global Logistics Managing Director, Enrique Alvarez, came on and talked about how they use a consultative approach with their customers to maximize efficiency and cost savings for their client companies. Rather than focusing on simply leasing out available cargo space, the company continually seeks to learn more about the businesses they serve in an effort to identify ways that transport routes and modes provide the fastest possible shipping for the lowest possible cost.

Enrique shared a story about a client for whom they were able to save $2 million annually by changing the primary route an international company was utilizing. They were able to save another major manufacturer millions by addressing the shipping option being used which meant inventory arrived as much as 2 weeks sooner than had been experienced previously.

Michael Golden is a partner with Arnall, Golden, & Gregory. They’re an Atlanta-based law firm that provides a variety of corporate legal expertise, one of which being logistics. Michael explained how important it is for the businesses operating within the logistics arena to have a relationship with a law firm with logistics experts on their team. He gave several examples of common missteps logistics companies make in their operations that can result in significant financial loss. One of those relates to companies listing what the law would consider “employees” as 1099 Independent Contractors.

We also talked about the impact that the Affordable Care Act will have on these companies as the employer mandate rolls into effect in the coming year. Without the right legal expert, these businesses can be exposed to major costs and penalties if they don’t handle their approach to employee benefits requirements correctly.

Special Guests:

Bo Wilkins, Partner, SoundRiver Advisors

Former Executive Managing Director, Wealth Management, Reliance Trust Company
Former Partner, Nease, Lagana, Eden, & Culley
BA, History & German, Hampden-Sydney College
CLU – Chartered Life Underwriter; ChFC – Chartered Financial Consultant; CAP – Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy

Page Siplon, CEO of Team One Logistics

MS, Computer & Electrical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Previous Program Director, Center for Innovation in Logistics, Georgia Department of Economic Development
2015 Top-100 Most Influential Georgians, Georgia Trend Magazine
2014 Industry Pro-to-Know, Supply and Demand Chain Magazine

Enrique Alvarez, Managing Director of Vector Global Logistics. LLC

MBA, Finance and Management, University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School
Managing Director, OA Ventures
Former Consultant, Boston Consulting Group
Fluent in Spanish and German

Michael Golden, Parter at Arnall, Golden, & Gregory

Juris Doctor, Duke University School of Law
Previous Law Clerk for Judge Ernest Tidwell, United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
Georgia Super Lawyers, 2012-13
Represented a global freight forwarder in its acquisitions
Represented an interstate trucking company in acquisition of regional refrigerated trucking company

Elder Care

June 6, 2015 by CW

Health Connect South

Elder Care

00:00 / 01:00:43

Elder Care

This week we hosted experts whose companies address the care needs of our elderly population. We hosted Maria de la Guardia, of Assisted Living Locators, Chris Foster, of LivHome, and Blaine Warketine, of Vimty.

Assisted Living Locators is a company that provides a free service for families in search of an assisted living facility for their loved one. The company forms relationships with facilities around the community, getting to know them, the services they provide, costs, etc. They then get to know the families who connect with them seeking help through an interview process to be better able to recommend a facility based on location, type of services available, living environment, cost, etc.

We talked about the fact that many online services focus mainly on a few facilities with which they have financial arrangements, leaving out many options in the area that could potentially be a better fit for a given patient. Once they have contact information for the family it is shared with other services who then assail the family with calls and emails trying to sell them on centers they represent. Maria shared some questions families should ask when they contact an online service that purports to be the facility they think they’re contacting.

LivHome is a company that helps seniors be able to live their lives in their own home or their family’s home with the care support and equipment needed to do so. The company conducts an in-depth assessment of the needs of the patient(s) in need of supportive care/equipment through interviews with their nursing staff. From there, they can make recommendations and provide the supportive care providers necessary.

Chris shared his story about having been disappointed in the experience with home care for loved ones in the past and that he wanted to provide a high-quality service for the patients who want to be able to live in their own home. We talked about the fact that it’s actually possible to have an elderly patient live in their own or a family member’s home for less than or similar costs to an assisted living center or nursing facility.

Blaine Warketine shared some impressive statistics about how much of overall healthcare spend each year comes from providing high-acuity care in the last days of life, often for patients who didn’t actually want to have aggressive measures. Vimty is a platform that allows patients to conduct video interviews with counselors and family members wherein they are able to state their wishes for end of life care measures, along with context for why they feel the way they do.

We talked about the fact that this record has much more weight and is much more likely to prevent much of the family drama that can occur with the typical written advanced directive document (or worse, in the cases of NO document). Through the Vimty platform, patients have a permanent record that is part of their EMR that can be referenced when end-of-life measures become necessary.

Special Guests:

Maria de la Guardia, of Assisted Living Locators

MBA International Business, George Washington University
Professional Development in Gerontology, Kennesaw State University
Previous Strategy & Policy Development/Industry Analyst
Board of Directors, Strength of Nature

Chris Foster, of LivHome

Certified Senior Advisor, Society of Certified Senior Advisors
Former Member, Board of Directors, March of Dimes of Georgia
President/CEO, SportsCom, Inc.

Blaine Warketine, of Vimty

Doctor of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin
Residency, Orthopedics, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Fellowship, Orthopedic Knee Conditions, Long Beach Memorial Medical Center
MBA, Entrepreneurship, University of Utah David Eccles School of Business

Dr. Scott Kelly – Top Docs Radio

June 3, 2015 by CW

Top Docs Radio

Dr. Scott Kelly - Top Docs Radio

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Dr. Scott Kelly

I sat down with practicing orthopedic physician and author of the book, “What I’ve Learned From You: The Lessons Of Life Taught To A Doctor By His Patients“. He shared the story of how this moving and inspirational book came together. He described how the book was drawn from journaling he did during his medical training over the course of several years.

He has always had a passion for writing and uses the medium as a way to process things that are important to him or that make an impression on him in his daily life. Dr. Kelly talked about how he was going through some things in the attic and came across the journal several years after putting it away and how emotional it was to go back and read his thoughts and experiences from that time in his life.

He thought the interesting experiences and life lessons he picked up through numerous patient encounters would be great for his children to hear about and decided to put it into book for basically for them. He decided to submit the manuscript to publishers and was surprised by the enthusiastic positive response he received.

You’ll enjoy listening to him tell his story and you can readily hear how big of an impact those life experiences had on him that he carries with him today. Check this great interview and learn more at his website.

Dr. Scott Kelly, MD, of Resurgens Spine Center

IRC Wealth

June 2, 2015 by CW

Midtown Business Radio

IRC Wealth

00:00 / 00:58:07

IRC Wealth

This week I sat down with financial experts, David Ragland and Joe Schum, of IRC Wealth. David shared his story about how he has spent his career helping businesses and individuals navigate their financial decisions and planning. We talked about how he gained valuable experience as a consultant with Ernst & Young then as a CFO of a troubled company that helped him bring a high level of strategic advice to companies as an outsourced CFO.

He, along with his team, including Joe, continues to help people develop an effective, simple plan to achieve their financial goals. That may be getting a business on a track that will allow the owners to eventually sell it or transition it to heirs, depending on their particular plan. Or, it may be helping an individual get their family out of craft an effective budget, eliminate debt, develop cash reserves, and even know what they need to do to actually retire safely one day.

We talked about how Dave had experienced a period where he let his fitness decline, ultimately becoming ~75 pounds overweight. He decided to address that by training for an Ironman triathlon, when he had previously been doing little to no physical training. He set a goal to complete a full Ironman in 18 months. By setting a defined time goal, he was able to develop a training strategy that allowed him to evaluate his progress and keep himself on a schedule that continually moved him closer to his goal.

He realized that there are parallels between the way one must approach training for such an event and developing a plan and timeline for achieving financial freedom. He decided to write a book in which he could talk about those analogies to help readers understand they CAN achieve financial freedom, even though it initially seems impossible—much like it can seem impossible to go from not being physically active to completing a full-length Ironman triathlon.

I had the opportunity to read the book, “Wealth Made Simple (Yes, Really)”. It’s a quick read and the comparisons between a training regimen and the mindset needed to achieve an athletic goal and getting out of debt/becoming financially free are easy to understand. He provides several tools to give the reader the chance to develop an understanding of where they are now along with some measure of what to expect over time, given their goals.

After reading the book and meeting these two experts I can say I would easily recommend speaking to them to see how they can help you or your business develop an effective, simple to implement plan to achieve a strong financial position.

Special Guests:

David Ragland, CEO, IRC Wealth