LBA Media Room: News Releases

The LBA Group Hires New Director of Healthcare Consulting Services

February 15, 2010

New Hire’s Extensive Experience in Healthcare Coding and Practice Management Serves as an Additional Asset to Northeast Florida Healthcare Practices

Jacksonville, FL — The LBA Group is pleased to announce that Delena Howard has joined the company as Director of LBA Healthcare Consulting Services, LLC. LBA Healthcare provides innovative financial and practice management consulting services to help boost the efficiency and bottom line of healthcare practices of all sizes and specialties in Florida.

“The highly regulated and constantly changing healthcare environment presents numerous challenges and opportunities for healthcare practices, and Delena’s expertise advances LBA’s position as a resource for healthcare businesses throughout the state of Florida,” said Richard Brock, Chairman of the Board for The LBA Group. “In her role as Director of LBA Healthcare Consulting Services, Delena manages the LBA team that works with healthcare practices to identify business needs and focus the correct expertise to improve productivity, efficiency and profitability. She also brings with her the hospital consulting experience, which adds a new dimension to our service offerings.”

Howard will manage each aspect of healthcare consulting that LBA provides, which includes contracting and credentialing, coding reviews, revenue enhancement and office optimization, financial impact analysis, regulatory issue consulting, strategic management consulting, educational and training services, and healthcare fraud services.

Prior to joining the LBA team, Howard gained more than 15 years of experience in healthcare consulting, working for the last nine as a healthcare consultant with the international accounting firm KPMG. She has extensive experience with hospital outpatient services, reimbursement compliance and physician practice groups. Her consulting expertise includes evaluation and management coding, billing, financial analysis, pricing and charge-master. Howard is a Certified Professional Coder (CPC), and is qualified to review and adjudicate coding of services, procedures and diagnoses on medical claims in the physician-office setting, thus improving the profitability and operational efficiency of the practice.

LBA Healthcare Consulting Services, LLC is a key resource to the healthcare industry of Northeast Florida, serving as the predominant provider of accounting, business consulting, and practice management expertise to healthcare providers for nearly 40 years.

About The LBA Group

The LBA Group is the largest locally owned and operated CPA firm in Northeast Florida. LBA offers tax, audit, accounting, strategic consulting, and litigation support services to private businesses, law firms, professional service firms, and nonprofit organizations. For more information about LBA, please visit www.TheLBAGroup.com.