Meet our team of subject matter experts, who collaborate and connect as coaches to give you the tools, resources and knowledge you need to understand and resolve barriers to improved cost, quality and health outcomes. Our service-first advisors focus on helping you achieve performance improvement and operational excellence.
Meet our team of subject matter experts, who collaborate and connect as coaches to give you the tools, resources and knowledge you need to understand and resolve barriers to improved cost, quality and health outcomes. Our service-first advisors focus on helping you achieve performance improvement and operational excellence.
Rebecca Archer
HIT Security Consultant/Programmer
Beckie is experienced in web application, report design and development, data translation, end-user training and customer support using a variety of toolsets. She assists in the maintenance and development of both in-house and customer-designed applications. Her current work includes development of intranet and internet sub-sites, forms, and workflows for data analysis and applications development and support.
David Athey, B. Eng.
Data Engineer
David currently serves as a data engineer and brings an extensive background in data analysis, evaluation, report design, SAS and a multitude of other programming languages to support customers in easily analyzing and manipulating data to make decisions and drive improvement. David’s current work focuses on producing reports and tools to assist partners with quality improvement processes, including analytic tools, calculators, feedback reports, data dashboards, and advising on analytic methodology.
Tracy Atkins, LMSW
EQRO Project Lead
Tracy has over 20 years of experience in social work, child welfare, and quality review. She has a wide range of experience including case management, case review, quality review, quality improvement, conducting surveys, project management, Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF) and Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) Waivers review, and writing of reports submitted to state and federal agencies that assess quality, timeliness, and access to care provided by managed care organizations (MCOs) to KanCare (Medicaid) members. Currently, she serves as EQRO Project Lead, facilitating review of Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program managed care entities’ compliance with federal and state regulations.
Jess Baker
Review Coordinator
Jess Baker is a Kansas board certified Paramedic with a background in quality improvement and quality assurance (QI/QA) in the prehospital field. Jess is responsible for scheduling peer reviews, recruiting reviewers, serving as the initial contact person for peer reviewers in the KFMC office, maintaining reviewer files, and conducting peer review internal quality control (IQC) activities. Her skills in project support, facilitation, and coordination ensure we meet or exceed the expectations of our customers.
Dana Brito
EQRO Project Specialist
Dana comes to KFMC with extensive experience in customer success management, process improvement, and documentation. Having served as the administrator during the life cycle of various projects, she continues her project support role as KFMC’s EQRO Project Specialist. Dana is a member of the Project Management Institute.
Tiffany Burrows, BBM
Quality Assurance Consultant
Tiffany brings over 22 years of healthcare experience including provider credentialing, quality improvement and risk management within a thirteen-county community mental health center. Her experience also includes resolving consumer complaints and grievances, evaluation and customer satisfaction as well as six years as utilization coordinator for a Managed Care Organization, conducting authorizations of services and facilitating coordination of care.
Sandi Butler, RHIT
Coding Specialist
Sandi brings nearly 20 years of experience in health information management, medical record data abstraction, coding, credentialing, and utilization experience in a variety of hospital settings, both Critical Access and PPS, as well as ambulatory care settings.
Kim Byers BSN, RN
Quality Improvement Consultant
Kim brings over 25 years of healthcare experience with over 14 years nursing experience in various hospital and clinic settings, both PPS and critical access. She has expertise in infection prevention and employee health. Her background includes experience in emergency preparedness planning, response and grant management, utilization review, OR/PACU, palliative care, orthopedics, sports medicine, family medicine, and ER. She has served on numerous local, state, and regional hospital emergency planning committees and state HAI advisory committee.
Tisha Carlson, BS
Quality Review Project Lead
Tisha brings a wide array of knowledge in health care quality, data analysis, project management, and process improvement principles to KFMC. She currently serves as Quality Review Project Lead, evaluating performance improvement projects, validating performance measure data, analyzing data, and writing reports submitted to state and federal agencies that assess quality, timeliness, and access to care provided by managed care organizations (MCOs) to KanCare (Medicaid) members.
Becca Clower, BSN, RN
Clinical Care Reviewer
Becca has over 20 years of nursing experience. Her clinical experience ranges from intensive care, outpatient procedures, obstetrical clinic and, most recently, in the school setting. She spent two years assisting at a local high school as part of their Covid team, analyzing data and directing families in the latest guidelines. Over her career, she has also spent countless hours volunteering for The American Red Cross and Catholic Charity’s Porta Caeli House (hospice care). Her broad experience lends itself to her role with KFMC as a clinical care reviewer.
Brenda Davis, BSN, RN, CIC
Quality Improvement Consultant – Infection Control
Brenda has nearly 30 years of clinical experience in the areas of infection prevention and employee health. In her current role as Quality Improvement Consultant, she provides clinical support and infection prevention support to KFMC customers. Brenda works with members of the customer’s clinical team, advisory committees, healthcare delivery personnel, and community stakeholders.
Jamie Doyal
Programmer
Jamie is an experienced programmer, developing and maintaining both web-based and non-web-based computer programming and basic analytic services in support of health care quality improvement activities. Her robust experience includes analyzing, designing and developing applications, developing automated systems for data gathering and manipulation, performance measurement, system validation assistance, and tailored application development.
Tammy Elliott, BSN, RN, CPHQ
Client Services Manager
Tammy brings expertise in practice transformation, alternative payment model, health care quality and data analysis to support KFMC customers in meeting their performance improvement goals. She brings over 25 years of experience in critical-access hospital and rural health clinic operations, including quality improvement, electronic medical record implementation and support, and case management/utilization review.
Samantha Ferencik
Quality Research Project Lead
Samantha has a background in program management, Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid. As a Quality Research Project Lead at KFMC, Samantha facilitates administration of statewide surveys, MCO network adequacy validation, and works with State Agency partners and others in the development, implementation, and evaluation of various projects.
Loretta Fitzgerald, RN, BSN
Quality Improvement Consultant – Infection Control
Loretta is a registered nurse with over 15 years of experience working in the critical access hospital setting. The majority of her experience has revolved around infection prevention, employee health, and emergency preparedness planning. In her current role as Quality Improvement Consultant, she provides infection prevention support to KFMC customers. She works collaboratively with members of advisory committees, healthcare delivery personnel, and community stakeholders.
Brenda Rhoads-Groves, LPN, CDP, CADDCT
Quality Improvement Consultant
Brenda has provided operational management and leadership to large scale quality improvement initiatives for Long Term Care, including designing, supporting and leading the development of projects and initiatives to facilitate measurable improvement, while overcoming the variety of geographic, resource and human barriers that Long-Term Care facilities face today. Through her work, Brenda has recognized the value of live training and the impact training has on front-line staff to improve dementia-appropriate care while decreasing incidences of abuse and neglect. For her work, she was recognized as the 2019 National Council for Certified Dementia Practitioners (NCCDP) Educator of the year. Since 2021, Brenda has served on the Board of Directors for Thriving4Life, a non-profit organization in Tennessee. Through therapeutic art and music programs, Thriving4Life makes a positive difference in the lives of individuals living in isolation, with dementia, mental, developmental, or other impairments, as well as those that love and care for them. In November, 2023, she was appointed to a three-year term on Battelle’s Partnership for Quality Measurement, a CMS-certified consensus-based entity, Endorsement and Maintenance Advanced Illness Committee Advisory Group which considers endorsement of quality measures that address post-acute care and advanced illness.
Nadyne Hagmeier, RN
Quality Improvement Consultant – Infection Control
Nadyne is a professional nurse with over 35 years of clinical experience in healthcare quality, data abstraction and validation, infection prevention, and risk management. In her current role as Quality Improvement Consultant, she provides clinical support, quality reporting assistance and infection prevention support to KFMC customers as an extension of their teams. She works collaboratively with members of advisory committees, healthcare delivery personnel and community stakeholders.
Angie Heiniger
Project Coordinator
Angie supports us – and our clients – as we execute various performance and quality review activities. She coordinates and supports projects for the Quality Review team and our new business development activities. Her skills in project support, facilitation and management ensure we meet or exceed the expectations of our customers.
Bert Lanum
Systems Engineer
Bert has more than 30 years’ experience in systems design, database administration, software development and programming of mission-critical business applications. He has a strong background in client/server, object oriented, and intranet programming as well as experience in major programming languages, operating hardware and software.
John McNamee, Ph.D.
Senior Health Data Analyst
John has nearly 20 years of experience leading analytics for performance measure validation projects, external quality review surveys, and utilization review initiatives. In his current role as Senior Analyst, he leads analytic functions and support of healthcare quality improvement conducted in collaboration with healthcare providers and managed care plans, creation of monitoring tools and reports, and systematic analysis of application databases for relevant patterns and trends.
Elizabeth Nech, MA EQRO Senior Manager
Bringing a diverse background in public health, cultural and medical anthropology to our customers, Beth currently serves as EQRO Senior Manager. Her background includes experience in community health, grant management, coalition development, health promotion and prevention, conducting quality review projects, program performance measurement, and academic research.
Bryan Nyp, CPA
Finance Consultant
Brian has more than 17 years in public accounting experience in not-for-profit, governmental audits, and internal control. He entered the accounting profession with Lowenthal Singleton Webb and Wilson P.A. in Lawrence, KS in May of 2003 and has worked for a variety of CPA firms in Northeast Kansas. In May of 2018 he founded a consulting practice Nyp CPA, LLC which has a concentration on correcting accounting issues and support of accounting functions with a variety of clients. He has a heavy focus on data and data flow as it relates to financial processes, budgeting, and reconciliation.
Ghazala Perveen, MBBS, PhD, MPH
Epidemiologist
Dr. Perveen has been trained in health and disease data analysis. She provides a variety of data analysis services that support public health, program measurement and evaluation activities. She has managed epidemiology, surveillance and evaluation of statewide public health programs and initiatives.
Michelle Sigmund, RHIT, CCS
Director of Clinical Care Review & Quality Improvement
Michelle serves as the Director of Clinical Care Review and Quality Improvement for KFMC and brings over twenty years of experience as a certified coder, utilization review manager and contract manager to this role. She has expertise in external and peer review, internal quality control and performance improvement, utilization review and coding. She also leads KFMC’s process to maintain URAC Accreditation as an Independent Review Organization. Michelle is a member of the National Association of Independent Review Organizations, the American Health Information Management Association, the Kansas Health Information Management Association, and the CMS Region 7 Fraud Working Group.
Kasey Sorell, MBA, BSN, RN
EQRO Project Lead
Kasey is a Registered Nurse with a background in public health, Medicaid, project and grant management, as well as conducting quality improvement projects. Kasey currently serves as EQRO Project Lead, facilitating review of managed care organizations’ compliance with federal and state regulations within the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Dana Thompson, AA
Project Coordinator, Review Coordinator
Dana provides project management support and coordination for all KFMC customer activities. Dana has extensive experience in supporting healthcare quality and data reporting projects across the Midwest region. She supports the planning, implementation, and documentation of contract and project activities, while providing appropriate coordination and oversight of such activities to ensure timely and effective project development and completion.
Kyle Tipton, MD
Medical Director
Dr. Tipton has been practicing in El Dorado as an internal medicine physician since 1993. He is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Tipton completed his undergraduate education at Kansas State University. He graduated from the University of Kansas School of Medicine and completed his Internal Medicine residency at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita. He has practiced his entire professional career in El Dorado. Dr. Tipton has been a KFMC peer reviewer since 1998 and a member of the Medicine Review Committee for the Kansas Board of Healing Arts since 1996.
