Executive Technology Leadership for Growth-Stage Healthcare Organizations
Managing post-acquisition technology consolidation and standardizing operations across multiple locations.
Think of me like a CFO who hires the bookkeeper and oversees their work—you get executive strategy without managing technical details.
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Common Challenges I Help Solve
For CEOs, COOs, and CFOs preparing board-level strategic roadmaps
Post-Acquisition EHR Consolidation
Acquired multiple practices running different EHR systems across multiple locations
3-Year Board-Level Technology Roadmap
Board demands technology vision tied to growth plan—add 10 locations over 3 years
Multi-Location Technology Standardization
Multiple locations running inconsistent systems—operational chaos
Your CFO Doesn't Pitch Services Every Quarter. Neither Should I.
Think about your relationship with your CFO. They're in the room for board meetings, transformation planning, crisis management. They're not there because they sold you financial services—they're there because you trust them to protect what you've built.
That's the kind of partnership I'm building with multi-location specialty healthcare practices.
You're dealing with operational realities you can't fully discuss with your board: EHR migrations that stalled six months past deadline. Staff who've built workarounds because the "enterprise solution" doesn't work for clinical workflows. Revenue cycle leakage you suspect but can't quantify. Technology vendors who disappeared after the contract signature.
I've spent 18+ years in enterprise consulting learning this: transformation doesn't fail because of bad technology. It fails because executives don't have a safe space to admit what's really broken—and don't have a partner who succeeds only when they succeed.
I'm not here to audit your decisions or sell you implementations. I'm here as a confidential strategic partner who coordinates vendors, navigates politics, and protects your operational continuity. Your board sees strategic progress. Your staff experiences manageable change. You get a thinking partner who's accountable for outcomes.
Trust first, transformation second. Everything else is just project management.
Enterprise Expertise, Mid-Market Pricing, 100% Vendor-Neutral
18+ years enterprise technology leadership, including 7-8 years healthcare specialty with major integrated health systems
Additional industries served: Financial Services · Transportation · Legal · Manufacturing
Start Where You Are, Scale When You're Ready
Workshop
Prove fit, includes vendor evaluation recommendations
6-8 hours, top 2-3 opportunities + vendor landscape assessment
Learn About Workshop →Tech Assessment
3-year board-level technology roadmap with vetted vendor shortlist
14 days, includes multi-location technology standardization plan + board presentation
Learn About Tech Assessment →Implementation Coordination
Vendor selection and execution oversight
4-12 weeks, I select vendors and manage implementation
See Coordination Services →Retainer
Ongoing strategic coordination + quarterly board updates
Monthly executive sessions, vendor coordination, acquisition technology due diligence
Explore Retainer Tiers →Who I Am
I'm Craig Trulove, fractional CTO specializing in multi-location healthcare technology leadership. With 18+ years enterprise technology leadership, including 7-8 years healthcare specialty with major integrated health systems and academic medical centers, I provide enterprise-quality strategic leadership at mid-market pricing. I coordinate qualified vendors for hands-on implementation. Think of me like a CFO who hires the bookkeeper and oversees their work.
More About Craig →How I Work
My 14-day AI-augmented assessment delivers insights in 2 weeks instead of 6 months. 30+ specialized agents process operational data, benchmark against healthcare best practices, and identify patterns human consultants miss. I don't do hands-on implementation myself—I focus on strategy and coordinate the right vendors for execution. All recommendations are reviewed by clinical operations professionals to ensure they work in actual therapy clinic environments, not just on paper.
See My Methodology →How Coordination Works
Think of me like a CFO who hires the bookkeeper and oversees their work. I bring strategic leadership and select the right vendors for hands-on execution.
Strategic Leadership
- • Technology roadmap and vision
- • Vendor selection and evaluation
- • Risk assessment and mitigation
- • Budget and timeline oversight
Vendor Coordination
- • I select qualified implementation partners
- • Manage execution and deliverables
- • Quality assurance and validation
- • Single point of accountability
Your Advantage
- • Executive-level strategy
- • Best-fit vendor expertise
- • Reduced management overhead
- • Predictable outcomes
Target Outcomes for Multi-Location Clinics
Based on industry benchmarks and enterprise healthcare methodologies applied to specialty clinic operations
Automated intake processes can improve referral conversion rates when implemented with proper staff training and clinical workflow integration[1]. Leading practices achieve 75-85% conversion vs. typical 50-60%, though results vary based on payer mix and authorization complexity.
Streamlined documentation and automated claims submission can reduce days-to-bill by 50-70% when therapists adopt new workflows and documentation standards[2]. Best-in-class practices achieve 3-5 day cycles vs. industry average 10-15 days, though results depend on staff compliance and payer electronic submission requirements.
Gain visibility across all clinic locations with patient outcome tracking and operational dashboards.
View Sources & References (5 citations)
- Referral Leakage: Children's Hospital Association Practice Management Study (2022); Physical Therapy Practice Benchmark Report (2023). Specialty practices typically convert 50-60% of referrals; optimized practices achieve 75-85% conversion.Source
- Billing Cycle Improvement: Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) Best Practices (2024); Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) DataDive (2023). RCM automation reduces median DSO from 45 days to 32 days (28% improvement).Source
- Documentation Time Savings: Suki AI Clinical Documentation Study (2023); PMC journal article "Impact of AI Clinical Documentation" (2022). Therapy practices baseline: 18-25 min/session; AI-assisted: 7-10 min (60-65% reduction).Source
- Clinician Labor Costs: American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Salary Survey (2023); American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Private Practice Report (2022). Mid-career OT/PT/SLP median: $75-$80K base; fully-loaded (benefits + overhead): $52-$66/hour.Source
- Claims Denial Rates: MGMA Performance Benchmarks (2023); Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) Revenue Cycle Guide (2024). Industry average: 15-17% initial denial rate; high-performing practices: 5-8%.Source
Why Responsible AI Matters in Healthcare
AI vendors promise speed and efficiency. But in healthcare, mistakes affect patient safety, trigger regulatory penalties, and expose providers to liability claims. Most AI consultants focus on ROI benefits—they rarely address what happens when AI goes wrong.
Methodology Demonstration: $47K Medicaid Clawback
Methodology Demonstration: Real-world example showing assessment approach Craig would use to achieve similar results (not a completed client engagement).
A 6-location pediatric ABA therapy practice implemented AI clinical documentation without proper safeguards. Florida Medicaid audited 150 claims and found 38% had “template documentation”—AI-generated notes lacked individualization.
Result: $47,000 clawback + $8,500 legal fees = $55,500 total cost
This could have been prevented. Pre-implementation payer acceptance verification, human validation protocols, and staff training on individualization would have eliminated the risk entirely.
Craig's Responsible AI Approach
Human Validation Layer
AI analyzes, expert validates, you decide—100% human review before implementation
Staged Rollout Methodology
Pilot → optimize → scale (not “big bang” failures)—validate ROI before full deployment
Pre-Implementation Risk Assessment
Payer acceptance, integration compatibility, liability review—before deployment
Continuous Monitoring
Weekly metrics during pilot, quarterly bias audits, ongoing performance tracking
The Result: Speed + Safety = Superior Outcomes
You get 3x faster assessments AND comprehensive risk evaluation. AI clinical documentation saves 12 min/session ($20K/year per mid-career clinician) WITH human validation ensuring accuracy and medical necessity (zero payer clawbacks). Referral analytics identifies bottlenecks in 4 hours WITH bias audits ensuring equitable access for all patients (no discrimination liability).
Responsible AI isn't a constraint—it's a competitive advantage. Proper implementation delivers higher ROI (validated outcomes, not overpromised results), lower risk (compliance protection, liability mitigation), and sustainable results (not failed deployments requiring costly remediation).
How I Would Approach These: Multi-Location Healthcare Scenarios
These scenarios demonstrate my vendor coordination methodology for common healthcare challenges.
Methodology Demonstrations: The scenarios below illustrate my vendor coordination approach—how I select implementation partners, manage execution, and ensure integration. Based on 18+ years of enterprise technology leadership at Perficient. These are representative examples showing my coordination methodology—not completed client engagements.
Multi-Disciplinary Therapy Documentation Automation
The challenge: A 3-clinic pediatric therapy practice struggles with therapists spending 15-18 minutes per 60-minute session documenting treatment progress. With 45 therapists across physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech language pathology services, this creates 18,750 hours annually of lost billable capacity while staff work evenings and weekends to finish notes.
How I would coordinate this: I would evaluate 3-5 ambient AI documentation vendors (Suki.AI, DeepScribe, Nuance DAX), select the best fit for multi-disciplinary therapy documentation, and coordinate implementation with three vendor partners: (1) the AI platform vendor, (2) their EHR integration specialist, and (3) a payer compliance consultant to validate documentation across 50+ insurance variations (Georgia Medicaid, BCBS regional plans, national commercial carriers). I manage vendor selection and execution oversight—vendors handle the technical implementation work.
Expected outcomes (based on industry benchmarks):
- • Documentation time: 18 min → 7 min per session (60-65% reduction)
- • Annual value: $450K-$550K increased billable capacity
- • After-hours burden: 70% reduction (key retention factor)
- • Documentation standardization: 90%+ consistency across locations
- • Payer compliance: Reduced documentation-related denials
*Results based on industry studies (see citations below). Actual outcomes vary by practice size, payer mix, and staff adoption rates.
Multi-Payer Revenue Cycle Automation
The challenge: A pediatric therapy practice navigates 50+ insurance variations (Georgia Medicaid managed care organizations, BCBS regional plans, national commercial carriers) with manual billing workflows consuming 20-27 hours weekly. Days sales outstanding stretches to 38-45 days vs. 25-30 day benchmark, while 12-15% of claims are denied (vs. 8-10% industry standard), leaking $111K-$222K annually.
How I would coordinate this: I would evaluate RCM platform vendors (Kareo, AdvancedMD, Therapynotes), select the best fit, and coordinate implementation with clearinghouse (Change Healthcare) and denial management (Waystar) partners. I would manage the integration of real-time eligibility verification, automated prior authorization tracking, intelligent claim scrubbing, and proactive denial prevention across multi-location billing complexity. I oversee vendor coordination—technical implementation is handled by the vendor partners.
Expected financial outcomes (based on industry benchmarks):
- • DSO reduction: 38-45 days → 25-30 days (30% improvement)
- • Cash flow: $95K-$115K working capital recovered
- • Denial rate: 12-15% → 8-10% (25% improvement)
- • Revenue recovery: $85K-$110K annually from reduced denials
- • Billing staff efficiency: 20-27 hrs → 6-10 hrs weekly (65-70% reduction)
*Results based on MGMA and HFMA benchmarks (see citations below). Actual outcomes vary by payer mix and denial management effectiveness.
Multi-Location Referral Coordination
The challenge: A 3-clinic pediatric therapy practice receives 300 referrals monthly across three separate phone lines with no cross-location visibility. Manual intake coordination produces 8-12 week waitlists, with 25% of families abandoning during the wait ($440K annual revenue loss). Each location operates independently, missing cross-location capacity optimization opportunities.
How I would coordinate this: I would evaluate referral management vendors (SolutionReach, Luma Health, Phreesia), select the best fit, and coordinate integration with scheduling platform vendors (ModMed, WebPT, TherapyNotes). I would manage implementation of automated referral capture from all sources (physician fax, online forms, phone), real-time insurance eligibility verification across 50+ payers, and unified scheduling dashboard analyzing capacity across locations by discipline (PT, OT, SLP). I oversee vendor coordination and integration—technical implementation is handled by vendor partners.
Expected operational outcomes (based on industry benchmarks):
- • Waitlist reduction: 350 patients → 150 (57% improvement)
- • Wait time: 8-12 weeks → 3-5 weeks for patient access
- • Abandonment rate: 25% → 10% (60% reduction)
- • Revenue retained: $264K recovered from waitlist abandonment
- • Capacity utilization: 70% → 85% system-wide
*Results based on referral management case studies and healthcare benchmarks (see citations below). Actual outcomes vary by referral volume and geographic market dynamics.
Traditional healthcare consultants require large teams for months. My AI-augmented methodology delivers vendor selection criteria and implementation roadmaps in 14 days at fractional cost. I then coordinate vendor implementation—selecting qualified partners, managing execution, ensuring integration—providing strategic leadership without hands-on technical work. You get executive-level CTO strategy with best-fit vendor expertise.