Speakers
Richard Lovich, Esq.
Mr. Lovich is Managing Partner at Stephenson, Acquisto & Colman, the premier healthcare reimbursement litigation firm in the country.He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; and all federal and state courtsinCalifornia.
Mr. Lovich has 37 years of litigation and trial experience including 15 years as the chief trial lawyer and managing attorney for the Los Angeles law offices of American International Group (AIG) and The Hartford, two of the country’s largest insurance companies.
Since 1995, he has held a Preeminent A-V Rating, by Martindale-Hubbell, reflecting the highest possible peer ratings in legal ability and ethical conduct; and has been named a "Southern California Super Lawyer" since 2011.In addition, , he has been selected as one of the Nation’s Top One Percent of Attorneys as selected by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel, since 2016.
Mr. Lovich proudly serves as National Legal Counsel to the American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management (AAHAM). In that capacity, in 2016, he testified before the United States Senate Commerce Committee on needed changes to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the difficulties presented by that law to the healthcare industry. In 2019, he was appointed by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Pai to serve on the FCC advisory group providing best practices to voice service providers in relation to curbing illegal robocalls to hospitals.
Mr. Lovich has served as superior court arbitrator and judge pro tem, and since 1991, he has been responsible for the development, implementation, and presentation of national trial advocacy training programs. He is a nationally certified Trail Advocacy trainer by the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and has served on national legal audit teams auditing both financial and litigation management requirements.
He has lectured nationally on numerous revenue cycle topics at large health systems and top university academic medical centers,including Stanford University Health, UCLA Health, University of California Irvine Health, University of California San Francisco Health; the Regents of the University of California, Providence-St. Joseph Health, Trinity Health, andDignity Health.
Mr. Lovich is married with 5 daughters and two grandchildren. He possesses a love for silent movies and a passion for classic rock and roll.
Ericka Smith
Ericka Smith is the Chief Operating Officer for Monterey Park Hospital. She has more than 28 years of experience in hospital marketing, development and operations. She has led Monterey Park Hospital to become the top performing hospital within AHMC Healthcare, a hospital corporation compromised of 10 acute care facilities. Much of her career has been dedicated to serving the community with her extensive background in healthcare.
Ericka’s career has developed while she continues to grow as a professional leader. She began her career with Garfield Medical Center in 1997 as a Manager of Physician Network Development. Soon after she was promoted to Business Development Director. She subsequently transferred to Monterey Park Hospital to accept a position of greater responsibility when Ornda Healthcorp was acquired by Tenet Healthcare. Her successes included creating over 40 new physician joint ventures and oversaw negotiations of new contractual relationships with IPA’s/ Medical Groups and solo physicians. She managed the transition from the publicly traded hospital corporation Tenet Healthcare to AHMC Healthcare handling government filings and accreditations.
In 2004, she became the Chief Operating Officer of Monterey Park Hospital and currently is responsible for managing a $110 million budget, 450 employees and ensuring high quality is maintained and delivered to the community members. She has managed to bring to the forefront numerous hospital objectives to increase both productivity and awareness in the community.
Due to the success and effectiveness of marketing Monterey Park Hospital, it has become the healthcare facility of choice within the East Los Angeles community. In spite of her busy professional career, Ericka finds time to give of herself through various volunteer work serving as a Board Member for several organizations. She is the current Board Member and Treasurer of the Boys and Girls Club of West San Gabriel Valley for over 20 years. She has dedicated her efforts to brightening and enriching the lives of thousands of children. She is a past Vice President of the Board of Directors of East Los Angeles College Foundation and as well as a former Board Member of the Los Angeles American Diabetes Community.
Ericka has been recognized by various organizations for her business success. Recognitions include Young Women’s Christian Association (YMCA) Leadership Award – honoring women in leadership roles, Circle of Excellence Award – Syndicated Office Systems, Champion of Youth Award by the Boys & Girls Club of America and HOPE Honoree – Outstanding Woman Leader in Healthcare, where she was featured in their annual magazine.
LaQuitta Holston, AS, CHAA, CRCR, and LEAN Certified
LaQuitta number one passion is patient care and being a supportive leader to her team. She has successfully decreased overall employee turnover rates, created training programs, job rotation programs, changed department cultures, increased employee morale by creating Employee Experience of Work and Pioneers of Change committees bridging the gap between team members and leadership.
LaQuitta Holston holds an Associate degree in Healthcare Management, Diplomain Medical Billing & Coding, holds her CRCR and CHAA certifications, and is LEAN certified. She has been in the healthcare industry for 17 years.
LaQuitta had an article published for NAHAM 05/2023 on Empower Your Workforce: Strategies for Recognizing and Engaging Employees. Team won the Banner Amazement Award 2023, which is usually only given to clinical departments.
Outside of work she is a wife, a mother of three whom keep her very busy with sports all year round, a mentor to all of her nieces, nephews and many other young adults. She is a member of The Wives Circle a Christian based group empowering women to have discussion about how to keep a strong marriage and encourage one another. LaQuitta currently serves on NAHAM’s conference committee.
Gretchen Lindemen, PHR
Gretchen began her career in Human Resources with National Medical Enterprises (NME) Special Hospital Group in Washington DC in 1987. In 1993 Gretchen moved from Washington DC to Santa Monica, CA to work in Human Resources with NME’s Corporate Rehab Hospital Services Division. In 1995, NME merged with American Medical International, and the company changed their name to Tenet Healthcare Inc. Gretchen relocated within the Tenet system from Washington, DC to Santa Monica, Santa Barbara and St. Louis, Mo. until relocating back to Orange County, California to work as a Manager, Human Resources for Western Medical Center Santa Ana. In 2005 Tenet sold their four hospitals in Orange County to Integrated Healthcare Holdings Inc. Gretchen worked for IHHI for 10 years as a HR Director in all four Hospitals, Chapman Medical Center, Coastal Communities Hospital, Western Medical Center Anaheim and Western Medical Center Santa Ana during that period of time and as Regional HR Director.
It was a 24 year employment history with NME, Tenet, and IHHI before Gretchen started working at AHMC Healthcare Inc.’s Corporate Human Resources Department in July 2013 and in August 2013 as the Director of Human Resources for Monterey Park Hospital, a small community hospital.
Gretchen earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Kentucky and has a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification since 2012.
Darcy Castro
Darcy Castro is Regional HR Director at Sharp Healthcare in San Diego, California. She started with Sharp in May 2022.
Darcy began her career in healthcare as a CNA, hospice care in the 1980 and then started nursing school where she began working as a unit secretary at Kingston Hospital in New York. Throughout her career she has worked in many areas within the hospital discovering her pathway within healthcare. In 1997, Darcy moved to California to continue her education growth and graduated from the University of Phoenix with a bachelor’s in management. Her desire to hire the best healthcare workers who provided excellent care is what led her into a career of human resources.
Darcy career has placed her in several roles including:
Following her employment with ASP, Mrs. Castro became a private consultant to assist surgery centers to become certified by developing all practice/office HR and Payroll Policies and Procedures.
HR Manager at Prime Healthcare for 5 years, HR Director with KPC Healthcare for 3 years.
Alicia Kintzele is a seasoned healthcare professional serving as the Senior Director of Corporate Access Management at Scripps Health. In her role, she oversees Hospital Patient Access teams and holds the position of Domain Lead for all Scripps Health Access Epic functions. With a career spanning over two decades, Alicia brings a wealth of experience in Revenue Cycle leadership, particularly in Patient Access driving denials reduction.Before joining Scripps Health in 2016, Alicia made significant contributions at Rady Children’s Hospital, where she honed her expertise in healthcare operations and revenue management. Her dedication to excellence and passion for continuous improvement have been instrumental in driving operational efficiency and enhancing patient access across healthcare systems.
Alicia holds a Bachelor's degree from San Diego State University, complementing her extensive professional experience with solid academic foundations. Beyond her professional commitments, Alicia is deeply engaged in her community.
At the core of Alicia's leadership philosophy is a commitment to fostering a culture of learning and development. She believes in the power of education to empower individuals and cultivate the next generation of healthcare leaders. Through her mentorship and advocacy for staff education, Alicia is shaping the future of healthcare delivery and driving positive change within her organization.
She has 20+ years’ experience in the health care, with 10 years of Revenue Cycle Management. During her career at Cottage Health, Sandy developed and implement the Professional Billing, Centralized Scheduling, and Single Billing Office teams. Sandy has a passion for process improvement project and spending quality time mentoring and developing team members. During her current tenure at Cottage Health, Sandy has supported performance by decreasing AR day by 5.5 days, increasing cash collections by 5% year over year, while standardizing workflows and processes.
Previously, Sandy held multiple leadership positions at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, IL from October 2013 – December 2018. Her scope ranged from billing and collections for the Managed Care payors, internal and external claim edits, managing open account inventory, overseeing cash collections and customer service, credit balance resolution, and partnering with Vendors on overflow inventory. Sandy also managed the billing and collections for the stand alone Ambulatory Surgical Center. .
Sandy is an active member of Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). Sandy has led her team to achieve national recognition by being a HFMA MAP receipt in 2021 and earning Kodiak’s Top Performing Revenue Cycle recognition from 2021 – 2023.
Sandy graduated with honors from National Louis University with a bachelor’s degree in Applied Behavioral Science. Sandy graduated from Pepperdine University with a Master of Science in Leadership in 2021.
Sandy was born and raised in a Northwest Suburb outside of Chicago IL, West Dundee. Sandy and her husband Brian are the proud parents of three boys, Brian, Bennett, and Bradley. Sandy has a passion for the outdoors, reading, and learning new things.
Jonathan Wiik
Jonathan Wiik has over 25 years of healthcare experience in acute care, health IT and insurance settings. He started his career as a hospital transporter and served in clinical operations, patient access, billing, case management and many other roles at a large not-for-profit acute care hospital and prominent commercial payer before serving as Chief Revenue Officer.In his current role as Vice President, Healthcare Insights at FinThrive, he is responsible for support and consultation on business development opportunities. Wiik works closely with the market and hospitals on industry best practices for revenue management. Wiik is an active advocate of legislative changes that evolve the healthcare industry. He’s the author of Healthcare Revolution: The Patient Is the New Payer, and Revenue Evolution: Helping Providers Get Paid in An Era of Uncertainty. Wiik is the 2021-2022 President of Colorado HFMA. He holds a bachelor’s degree in sports medicine and holds two master’s degrees in healthcare administration and business.
Becky Cloud-Glaab
Becky Cloud-Glaab is a seasoned professional with over 35 years of experience in the healthcare field, specializing in revenue cycle management. Her extensive tenure reflects her deep understanding of the role revenue cycle has in financial operations within healthcare organizations. Becky has been an integral part of UCI Healthfor the past11 years, where she currently serves as the Vice President of Revenue Cycle Management. In this role, she oversees more than10 departments, including Patient Access, Registration, Authorization, and Patient Financial Services. Her strategic leadership ensures seamless financial processes, optimal patient experiences, and efficient revenue flow.Before joining UCI Health, Becky made contributions to other healthcare institutions. As the Director of Revenue Cycle at Saint Joseph Health Systems, she played a key role in streamlining revenue processes, enhancing billing efficiency, and improving overall revenue cycle performance.
During her16-year tenure at Tenet Healthcare, Becky wore multiple hats, demonstrating her versatility and adaptability. Her roles included developing the MEP (Eligibility) program and Early Out. She was a Director in PFS IT and Performance Improvement in revenue cycle.
Becky’s diverse experience across various revenue cycle functions has equipped her with invaluable insights. Her ability to navigate complex challenges, optimize revenue streams, and foster collaboration across departments has been instrumental in her success.
Greg Cleays
Greg Claeys is the Vice President of Client Success at Revecore, bringing over 15 years of experience in helping health systems achieve their financial goals and streamline processes. With extensive expertise in complex claims, including motor vehicle accident, workers' comp, and VA claims, Greg manages over $18 million in client revenue and oversees performance tracking and reporting.
He is passionate about building exceptional partnerships, providing health systems with the insights they need to optimize their revenue recovery and ensure financial stability.