Kathi Riley Wombles
Phenix City
Summary
Accomplished Revenue Cycle leader with administrative and operations management experience with a record of delivering industry leading results in growth, profitability, training, and service. Leadership experience within the provider and vendor sector that allows unique insight to organizational objectives and delivery of service. Highly skilled in project and program management, implementing continuous operational improvements and efficiencies. Adept at cultivating key partnerships and relationships.
Overview
31
31
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Patient Access Director
Coosa Valley Medical Center
Sylacauga, AL
05.2025 - Current
- Analyze patient flow metrics to identify bottlenecks and recommendations for process improvements.
- Oversee compliance with regulatory standards in patient access operations, ensuring quality service delivery.
- Mentor team members in best practices for patient engagement and satisfaction initiatives.
- Establish key performance indicators, monitoring progress and implementing corrective actions when necessary.
- Reduced denied claims by ensuring thorough insurance verification and pre-authorization procedures are followed by staff members.
- Created a metrics-driven approach for tracking departmental performance against established benchmarks, driving continuous improvement in key areas. Within 10 months we have increased POS collections by 90% over prior FY, and improved registration accuracy by 30%.
- Increased employee engagement through regular communication, feedback sessions, and recognition programs.
Patient Access Director
CHS (Community Health Systems)/Tennova
Clarksville, TN
04.2024 - 05.2025
- Streamlined patient registration processes to enhance access and reduce wait times by 7 minutes on average.
- Analyzed patient flow metrics to identify bottlenecks and recommend process improvements.
- Collaborated with clinical departments to optimize scheduling and resource allocation strategies.
- Oversaw compliance with regulatory standards in patient access operations, ensuring quality service delivery.
- Mentored team members in best practices for patient engagement and satisfaction initiatives. We successfully increased facility Google scores by 2 points for "check-in" category.
- Promoted a culture of continuous improvement, leading numerous process optimization initiatives that improved overall department efficiency. One major area of improvement we made was decrease BARRT (Billing and Report Request Tracker) by $9M along with increasing POS collections by 38%.
Senior Director Operations
Aspirion
Columbus, GA
06.2021 - 01.2024
- Report to VP of Operations providing direction to Service Line Department Sr. Managers to achieve business goals of productivity, quality, and financial performance.
- Analyze process workflows and data utilizing various systems including Power BI. Successful implementation of process improvements, coordinating effectively between departments.
- Project management delivery for diverse operational initiatives.
- Created capital and operating budgets for two service lines and successfully exceeded financial annual targets.
- Provide direct leadership for five functional areas: Learning & Development, Out of State Medicaid/Credentialing, Eligibility, Physician Billing and Administrative Teams as well as indirect for WC, MVA and VA service lines.
- Responsible to ensure operational conformity with all company security and professional compliance requirements to include HIPAA and our first HITRUST certification.
Director Patient Financial Services and Patient Access
Coosa Valley Medical Center
Sylacauga, AL
06.2015 - 06.2021
- Reported to CFO providing operational oversight for all activities related to the revenue cycle. Develop and monitor key performance indicators to ensure optimal financial results, compliance, and resource efficiencies.
- Successful in management of staff in multiple departments to include Business Office and Patient Access Services.
- Spearheaded the development of formal onboarding and ongoing training programs that resulted in increased POS collections by 25% within the first six months and increased quality scores by 18%.
- Executed processing of vendor contracts and implemented a standardized process, reducing contract discrepancies by 90%.
- Implemented an employee incentive program based on key performance indicators that resulted in increased employee satisfaction and retention.
- Responsible for operating budgets for two service lines.
- Developed compliance educational material for staff to ensure compliance requirements were met to include TJC, CMS and HIPAA.
Associate Director Patient Access Services/Education/Quality and Centralized Scheduling
Piedmont Columbus Regional
Columbus, GA
01.1995 - 01.2015
- Responsible for the effective management and delivery of exceptional staff results within the revenue cycle to include increasing point of service collections, registration quality results, manage patient wait times, ensure all critical required data is present to ensure compliance and reimbursement standards are present.
- Perform training needs analysis to develop and delivered comprehensive education program for Patient Access along with continued monthly education delivery to sustain quality and other KPIs as developed.
- Education delivery resulted in increase of quality scores by 23% and POS collections by 30% within twelve months.
- Implemented a Centralized Scheduling department that included staff selection, process development and training.
- Implemented a Quality Assurance department, which included writing policies and procedures and establishing KPIs.
- Spearheaded “big bang” HIS system migration to include instructional design and delivery of training program for 200+ learners.
- Perform business analyst functions for Patient Access Services analyzing data, supporting system and its users to an elevated level of performance.
Education
Marketing
Columbus State University
Columbus, GASkills
- Revenue Cycle Management
- Team Leadership and Development
- Project Management
- Business Partner Management
- Customer Service
- Strategic Improvements
- Operational Discovery
- Budgeting and Planning
- Various RCM Systems
- Staff Learning and Development
- Compliance Standards
- Adult Learning and Instructional Design
Certification
- Hospitality Committee Chair for Foundation - 15 years
- Columbus Women's Civic League - Former Member
- CPAR Certification
- HFMA
Interests
Traveling, Reading, Being Creative
Timeline
Patient Access Director
Coosa Valley Medical Center
05.2025 - Current
Patient Access Director
CHS (Community Health Systems)/Tennova
04.2024 - 05.2025
Senior Director Operations
Aspirion
06.2021 - 01.2024
Director Patient Financial Services and Patient Access
Coosa Valley Medical Center
06.2015 - 06.2021
Associate Director Patient Access Services/Education/Quality and Centralized Scheduling
Piedmont Columbus Regional
01.1995 - 01.2015
Marketing
Columbus State University