Medical Money Matters with Jill Arena

Jill Arena

Who is this podcast for? It's for you if you: Lay awake at night wondering if your medical practice is doing well financially, or if you are concerned about your insurance contracts or your reimbursement, or if you worry about being embezzled. Do you want a big piece of new equipment, but are not sure it's a wise purchase, or do you shudder every time a financial question comes up? Join Jill Arena, CEO of Health e Practices and other healthcare industry experts as they demystify the business of outpatient medicine in this weekly podcast.

  1. 6d ago

    Episode 193 | The Uneven Playing Field in Medical Construction: A Conversation with Jim Lampus

    Send us Fan Mail Planning a medical office construction or renovation is one of the largest investments most physician owners will ever make—but it's also one of the least familiar. The difference between a project that finishes on time and on budget and one that's plagued by delays, change orders, and escalating costs often comes down to one thing: preparation. In this episode of Medical Money Matters, I sit down with my good friend Jim Lampus, co-founder of Norwest Contractors and DesignLab, to discuss why medical construction is an inherently uneven playing field. Physicians may only undertake one or two construction projects during their careers, while contractors manage them every day. Jim shares how healthcare leaders can level the playing field by asking the right questions, choosing the right construction partner, and insisting on thorough planning before the first wall is ever built. We also explore one of the biggest frustrations in medical construction: contractors who submit unrealistically low bids, only to make up the difference through a steady stream of costly change orders once construction begins. Jim explains why comprehensive due diligence, detailed preconstruction planning, and transparent estimating are the keys to avoiding unpleasant surprises and delivering a successful project. Whether you're building a new medical office, expanding your practice, or renovating your existing space, this episode is packed with practical advice that can save you time, money, and unnecessary stress while helping your project stay on schedule and on budget. Jim can be reached at: https://www.norwestgc.com/ or https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-lampus-62981124/  Please Follow or Subscribe to get new episodes delivered to you as soon as they drop! Visit Jill’s company, Health e Practices’ website: https://healtheps.com/ Subscribe to our newsletter, Health e Connections: https://share.hsforms.com/1FMup6xLPSpeA8hB77caYQwd32sx?hsCtaAttrib=171926995377  Want more formal learning? Check out Jill's newly released course: Physician's Edge: Mastering Business & Finance in Your Medical Practice. 32.5 hours of online, on-demand CME-accredited training tailored just for busy physicians. Promo pricing available now: https://education.healtheps.com/offers/Ry3zfLYp/checkout?coupon_code=PHYSEDGE3000  Purchase your copy of Jill’s book here: Physician Heal Thy Financial Self  Join our Medical Money Matters Facebook Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3834886643404507/ Original Musical Score by: Craig Addy at https://www.underthepiano.ca/ Visit Craig’s website to book your Once in a Lifetime music experience Podcast coaching and development by: Jennifer Furlong, CEO, Communication Twenty-Four Seven https://www.communicationtwentyfourseven.com/

  2. Jul 28

    Episode 192 | Why "I Don't Know" May Be the Three Most Powerful Words You Can Use

    Send us Fan Mail Have you ever stopped and asked yourself, "When was the last time I said, 'I don't know'…and actually meant it?" Think about that for just a moment. For many physicians, those three words almost feel forbidden. They can make you uncomfortable. They can even make you feel vulnerable. From the very first day of medical school, you were taught that your job was to know. You memorized anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, pathology, and thousands upon thousands of facts. During residency, you learned to make decisions quickly and confidently. Patients expected answers. Attendings expected competence. Your colleagues depended on you. And let's be honest—there were moments when lives truly depended on your knowledge and your ability to make the right decision under pressure. That mindset is not only understandable—it's essential. It helps make you an outstanding physician. But here's the problem. Many physicians unknowingly carry that same mindset into running their practices, leading their organizations, and making business decisions. And that's where the trouble begins. Today's episode is about three simple words that may be the most powerful words you'll ever say as a physician leader: "I don't know." Those three words are not a sign of weakness. They're a sign of wisdom. They're the beginning of learning. They're the beginning of better leadership. And they may be the key to building a stronger, healthier, and more profitable practice. Please Follow or Subscribe to get new episodes delivered to you as soon as they drop! Visit Jill’s company, Health e Practices’ website: https://healtheps.com/ Subscribe to our newsletter, Health e Connections: https://share.hsforms.com/1FMup6xLPSpeA8hB77caYQwd32sx?hsCtaAttrib=171926995377  Want more formal learning? Check out Jill's newly released course: Physician's Edge: Mastering Business & Finance in Your Medical Practice. 32.5 hours of online, on-demand CME-accredited training tailored just for busy physicians. Promo pricing available now: https://education.healtheps.com/offers/Ry3zfLYp/checkout?coupon_code=PHYSEDGE3000    Purchase your copy of Jill’s book here: Physician Heal Thy Financial Self  Join our Medical Money Matters Facebook Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3834886643404507/ Original Musical Score by: Craig Addy at https://www.underthepiano.ca/ Visit Craig’s website to book your Once in a Lifetime music experience Podcast coaching and development by: Jennifer Furlong, CEO, Communication Twenty-Four Seven https://www.communicationtwentyfourseven.com/

  3. Jul 21

    Episode 191 | Your Next Patient May Discover You on a Podcast: A Conversation with Bret Gregory of Dr. Talks

    Send us Fan Mail In today's digital world, your reputation extends far beyond the walls of your practice. Patients, referral partners, and even future opportunities are increasingly shaped by what people find—and don't find—about you online. In this episode of Medical Money Matters, I'm joined by Bret Gregory, founder of DrTalks.com, to discuss why building a personal brand is no longer optional for today's physicians. Bret shares how podcast interviews have become one of the most authentic and effective ways for healthcare professionals to establish credibility, expand their reach, and share their expertise with audiences far beyond their local community. Whether you're new to digital marketing or wondering where to begin, Bret offers practical, approachable advice for getting started without feeling overwhelmed. We explore how physicians can leverage their knowledge, tell their story, and build a trusted online presence that benefits both their careers and the patients they serve. If you've ever wondered how to take the first step toward becoming a recognized voice in your specialty, this episode is the perfect place to start. Bret can be found at DrTalks.com or via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/bretg/ Please Follow or Subscribe to get new episodes delivered to you as soon as they drop! Visit Jill’s company, Health e Practices’ website: https://healtheps.com/ Subscribe to our newsletter, Health e Connections: https://share.hsforms.com/1FMup6xLPSpeA8hB77caYQwd32sx?hsCtaAttrib=171926995377  Want more formal learning? Check out Jill's newly released course: Physician's Edge: Mastering Business & Finance in Your Medical Practice. 32.5 hours of online, on-demand CME-accredited training tailored just for busy physicians. Promo pricing available now: https://education.healtheps.com/offers/Ry3zfLYp/checkout?coupon_code=PHYSEDGE3000    Purchase your copy of Jill’s book here: Physician Heal Thy Financial Self  Join our Medical Money Matters Facebook Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3834886643404507/ Original Musical Score by: Craig Addy at https://www.underthepiano.ca/ Visit Craig’s website to book your Once in a Lifetime music experience Podcast coaching and development by: Jennifer Furlong, CEO, Communication Twenty-Four Seven https://www.communicationtwentyfourseven.com/

  4. Jul 14

    Episode 190: It Depends: Legal Counsel as a Trusted Advisor: A Conversation with Joe Carlisle

    Send us Fan Mail Most physician owners don't think about calling an attorney until something has gone wrong. But what if your legal counsel could help you avoid problems before they ever happen? In this episode of Medical Money Matters, I have the pleasure of welcoming my good friend, Joe Carlisle, partner at Dunn Carney LLP, for a conversation about the role legal counsel should play in every successful medical practice. Joe shares practical advice on how physicians and healthcare leaders can build stronger relationships with their attorneys, recognize when to seek legal guidance, and use legal counsel as a proactive strategic partner—not just an emergency resource. We also explore what it means to build a true "board of trusted advisors" and why every independent practice benefits from surrounding itself with experienced professionals who can help navigate today's increasingly complex healthcare environment. Whether you're a new practice owner or a seasoned healthcare executive, you'll come away with actionable insights that can help protect your practice, strengthen your decision-making, and position your organization for long-term success. You can find Joe at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-carlisle-71067265/ or at https://www.dunncarney.com/people/joe-w-carlisle Please Follow or Subscribe to get new episodes delivered to you as soon as they drop! Visit Jill’s company, Health e Practices’ website: https://healtheps.com/ Subscribe to our newsletter, Health e Connections: https://share.hsforms.com/1FMup6xLPSpeA8hB77caYQwd32sx?hsCtaAttrib=171926995377  Want more formal learning? Check out Jill's newly released course: Physician's Edge: Mastering Business & Finance in Your Medical Practice. 32.5 hours of online, on-demand CME-accredited training tailored just for busy physicians. Promo pricing available now: https://education.healtheps.com/offers/Ry3zfLYp/checkout?coupon_code=PHYSEDGE3000  Purchase your copy of Jill’s book here: Physician Heal Thy Financial Self  Join our Medical Money Matters Facebook Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3834886643404507/ Original Musical Score by: Craig Addy at https://www.underthepiano.ca/ Visit Craig’s website to book your Once in a Lifetime music experience Podcast coaching and development by: Jennifer Furlong, CEO, Communication Twenty-Four Seven https://www.communicationtwentyfourseven.com/

  5. Jul 7

    Episode 189: Your Staffing Problem Isn't a Staffing Problem—It's a Systems Problem

    Send us Fan Mail Have you ever looked around your practice and wondered why good people keep leaving? Maybe you've blamed the job market, younger generations, higher salaries across town, or the simple fact that healthcare has become harder than ever. While all of those things certainly play a role, what if I told you that your staffing problem isn't really a staffing problem at all? More often than not, turnover is actually a systems problem. Practices with strong systems consistently retain people longer than practices that rely on good intentions and heroic managers. They create clarity. They reduce frustration. They help people succeed. And when people succeed, they're much more likely to stay. Today we're continuing the conversation we started in our last episode about building a culture of accountability. Because accountability doesn't exist in a vacuum. It depends on systems. You can't expect people to be accountable if you've never given them a clear roadmap for success. Please Follow or Subscribe to get new episodes delivered to you as soon as they drop! Visit Jill’s company, Health e Practices’ website: https://healtheps.com/ Subscribe to our newsletter, Health e Connections: https://share.hsforms.com/1FMup6xLPSpeA8hB77caYQwd32sx?hsCtaAttrib=171926995377  Want more formal learning? Check out Jill's newly released course: Physician's Edge: Mastering Business & Finance in Your Medical Practice. 32.5 hours of online, on-demand CME-accredited training tailored just for busy physicians. Promo pricing available now: https://education.healtheps.com/offers/Ry3zfLYp/checkout?coupon_code=PHYSEDGE3000  Purchase your copy of Jill’s book here: Physician Heal Thy Financial Self  Join our Medical Money Matters Facebook Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3834886643404507/ Original Musical Score by: Craig Addy at https://www.underthepiano.ca/ Visit Craig’s website to book your Once in a Lifetime music experience Podcast coaching and development by: Jennifer Furlong, CEO, Communication Twenty-Four Seven https://www.communicationtwentyfourseven.com/

  6. Jun 30

    Episode 188: Behavioral Health Belongs Here: Integrating It into Your Practice with Ed Speedling

    Send us Fan Mail Behavioral health is no longer a "nice to have"—it's an essential part of delivering high-quality, patient-centered care. In this episode of Medical Money Matters, Jill Arena welcomes healthcare executive and behavioral health expert Ed Speedling (MSW, MHA, FACHE), President of ES Healthcare Consulting. Drawing on decades of leadership experience, Ed shares why integrating behavioral health into primary care is one of the most important opportunities facing medical practices today. Together, Jill and Ed discuss the practical steps practices can take to embed behavioral health services, improve patient outcomes, strengthen care teams, and create a more sustainable model of care. Whether you're in private practice, leading a medical group, or planning for the future of healthcare delivery, this conversation offers valuable insights into treating the whole patient while building a healthier practice. You can reach Ed via LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ed-speedling-msw-mha-fache/ or via email at: info@eshealthcareconsulting.com His website can be found at: https://eshealthcareconsulting.com/ Please Follow or Subscribe to get new episodes delivered to you as soon as they drop! Visit Jill’s company, Health e Practices’ website: https://healtheps.com/ Subscribe to our newsletter, Health e Connections: https://share.hsforms.com/1FMup6xLPSpeA8hB77caYQwd32sx?hsCtaAttrib=171926995377  Want more formal learning? Check out Jill's newly released course: Physician's Edge: Mastering Business & Finance in Your Medical Practice. 32.5 hours of online, on-demand CME-accredited training tailored just for busy physicians. Promo pricing available now: https://education.healtheps.com/offers/Ry3zfLYp/checkout?coupon_code=PHYSEDGE3000    Purchase your copy of Jill’s book here: Physician Heal Thy Financial Self  Join our Medical Money Matters Facebook Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3834886643404507/ Original Musical Score by: Craig Addy at https://www.underthepiano.ca/ Visit Craig’s website to book your Once in a Lifetime music experience Podcast coaching and development by: Jennifer Furlong, CEO, Communication Twenty-Four Seven https://www.communicationtwentyfourseven.com/

  7. Jun 23

    Episode 187: The Blame Game and Why a Culture of Accountability is the Antidote

    Send us Fan Mail What if the biggest threat to your medical practice isn't declining reimbursement, staffing shortages, rising expenses, or even physician burnout? What if it's the culture you've unintentionally created? That may sound dramatic, but after working with hundreds of physician practices across the country, I've seen something over and over again. Practices spend enormous amounts of time worrying about external threats while overlooking the internal dynamics that are quietly draining productivity, increasing turnover, damaging morale, and ultimately affecting patient care. Every day, medical practices lose talented employees, valuable revenue, and patient trust because teams spend more time assigning blame than solving problems. And here's the difficult truth. Most toxic workplace cultures don't begin with bad people. They begin with good people operating inside broken systems. Today we're going to talk about why blame culture develops in healthcare organizations, the hidden costs that most leaders never calculate, how the infamous front-office-versus-back-office battle hurts everyone involved, and most importantly, how you can transform your practice into a culture built on accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement. Please Follow or Subscribe to get new episodes delivered to you as soon as they drop! Visit Jill’s company, Health e Practices’ website: https://healtheps.com/ Subscribe to our newsletter, Health e Connections: https://share.hsforms.com/1FMup6xLPSpeA8hB77caYQwd32sx?hsCtaAttrib=171926995377  Want more formal learning? Check out Jill's newly released course: Physician's Edge: Mastering Business & Finance in Your Medical Practice. 32.5 hours of online, on-demand CME-accredited training tailored just for busy physicians. Promo pricing available now: https://education.healtheps.com/offers/Ry3zfLYp/checkout?coupon_code=PHYSEDGE3000  Purchase your copy of Jill’s book here: Physician Heal Thy Financial Self  Join our Medical Money Matters Facebook Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3834886643404507/ Original Musical Score by: Craig Addy at https://www.underthepiano.ca/ Visit Craig’s website to book your Once in a Lifetime music experience Podcast coaching and development by: Jennifer Furlong, CEO, Communication Twenty-Four Seven https://www.communicationtwentyfourseven.com/

  8. Jun 16

    Episode 186: Your Revenue Cycle Is Talking — Are You Listening?

    Send us Fan Mail If I walked into your organization today and asked you one simple question — “What is your revenue cycle trying to tell you?” — would you know the answer? Not your collections rate. Not your days in A/R. Not your monthly deposits. I mean the deeper answer. What operational stories are hiding inside your numbers right now? Because most healthcare organizations still think about revenue cycle as a billing department function. Claims go out. Payments come in. Denials get worked. Aging gets reviewed. End of story. But high-performing organizations understand something very different: your revenue cycle is not just billing. It is operational intelligence. It is one of the clearest mirrors of how your organization is actually functioning. Every metric tells a story. Your denial patterns tell stories. Your charge lag tells stories. Your payer behavior tells stories. Your provider coding and undercoding variation tells stories. Your scheduling data tells stories. Even your unapplied credits and unpostables tell stories. And the organizations that thrive financially are usually the organizations that have learned how to listen carefully. So today I want to challenge you to think differently about your revenue cycle. Not as a back-office function. Not as an administrative burden. But as one of the most important diagnostic tools in your entire organization. Because here’s the truth: your revenue cycle is talking to you every single day. The question is whether anyone is listening. Please Follow or Subscribe to get new episodes delivered to you as soon as they drop! Visit Jill’s company, Health e Practices’ website: https://healtheps.com/ Subscribe to our newsletter, Health e Connections: https://share.hsforms.com/1FMup6xLPSpeA8hB77caYQwd32sx?hsCtaAttrib=171926995377  Want more formal learning? Check out Jill's newly released course: Physician's Edge: Mastering Business & Finance in Your Medical Practice. 32.5 hours of online, on-demand CME-accredited training tailored just for busy physicians. Promo pricing available now: https://education.healtheps.com/offers/Ry3zfLYp/checkout?coupon_code=PHYSEDGE3000  Purchase your copy of Jill’s book here: Physician Heal Thy Financial Self  Join our Medical Money Matters Facebook Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3834886643404507/ Original Musical Score by: Craig Addy at https://www.underthepiano.ca/ Visit Craig’s website to book your Once in a Lifetime music experience Podcast coaching and development by: Jennifer Furlong, CEO, Communication Twenty-Four Seven https://www.communicationtwentyfourseven.com/

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About

Who is this podcast for? It's for you if you: Lay awake at night wondering if your medical practice is doing well financially, or if you are concerned about your insurance contracts or your reimbursement, or if you worry about being embezzled. Do you want a big piece of new equipment, but are not sure it's a wise purchase, or do you shudder every time a financial question comes up? Join Jill Arena, CEO of Health e Practices and other healthcare industry experts as they demystify the business of outpatient medicine in this weekly podcast.

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