Medical Health

Brian Cherry, MHA

Little Rock, AR ***** 501-***-**** ************@*****.***

Assistant Vice President of Patient Services

Operational Excellence….Patient-First Mentality….Forward-Thinking Leadership

A top-performing Healthcare Executive respected for consistently delivering results. An exceptional communicator and a natural leader who thrives in fast-paced, constantly changing environments. Combines a passion for serving others with a quiet confidence leading diverse teams. A solid track record of consistently exceeding high expectations while always keeping an eye on the bottom line.

Key Skills & Expertise

Hospital Operations Leadership

P&L & Budget Management

Ambulatory/Clinic Operations

Driving Revenue & Cost Control

Building & Leading Diverse Teams

Strategic Business Planning

Staff Training & Development

Safety & Quality Control

Data Driven Decision Making

Problem Identification & Resolution

Professional Experience

BAPTIST HEALTH - Little Rock, AR 2012 – 2018

Assistant Vice President of Patient Services (October, 2014 – December, 2018)

Oversee operational and clinical outcomes of 190+ FTEs throughout six inpatient and outpatient medical groups that include $50M of P&L responsibility.

Groups/services managed include: Internal Medicine (hospitalist), Pain Management and Rehabilitation, Palliative Care, Pulmonology and Critical Care, and Anesthesia. Serve as Administrator of the Baptist Health Heart Failure and Transplant Institute. In addition to medical group oversight, also have responsibility at seven Baptist Health hospitals for the following service lines: Internal Medicine, Palliative Care, Pulmonology and Critical Care, and Anesthesia.

Achieved Center of Excellence (COE) status for heart transplants by meeting the Optum Transplant COE requirements for quality outcomes and volume.

Established the Baptist Health Medical Center – Little Rock ECMO program (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) and Shock Team. Total inpatient collections in the initial year exceed $4.2M.

Conceptualized, developed and implemented a strategic business plan to implant the first total artificial heart in the state of Arkansas at Baptist Health Medical Center – Little Rock.

Achieved $1.5M+ in revenue enhancement/expense reduction at the Baptist Health Heart Failure and Transplant Institute. This was achieved by LOS reductions, inpatient/ambulatory documentation improvement/charge optimization, lab/testing cost reduction, and annual increases in volumes for heart transplants and VAD (ventricular assists devices).

Recruited team of providers and launched the hospitalist program at the newly opened Baptist Health Medical Center - Conway. Length of stay is under Medicare geometric mean and readmission/mortality scores are in the top 10% in the nation.

Hired providers, gained physician support, and created hospital/clinic processes to create a post-acute, transitional heart failure clinic to see HF patients discharged from the hospital within 10 days. Patients are followed in clinic for 30 days then care is resumed by their primary cardiologist or primary care provider. YTD readmission reduction of 17%.

Successfully consolidated system anesthesia services among eight hospitals resulting in $500K in savings.

Led the Medicine Governance Council consisting of employed and private hospitalists. Achievements include a length of stay reduction of 16% (equated to 2K+ patient days/year) and HCAHPS Overall Hospital Rating increase of 20%.

Collaborated with system and independent doctors to consolidate the internal medicine call schedule increasing the hospitalist program volume by 20%.

Led a rebranding campaign for the BH Palliative Care Clinic to BH Supportive Medicine resulting in improved patient/family perception and an increase in referrals. Also instituted tools within the Epic medical record to flag patients and refer patients with advanced heart failure and COPD to the Supportive Medicine team.

Recipient of Arkansas Business’ “20 in their 20s,” 2016.

Night Administrator (May, 2013 – October, 2014)

Managed all hospital operations of Baptist Health Medical Center-LR/NLR and Baptist Health Rehabilitation Institute after hours. Worked to resolve patient complaints and provided administrative support to physicians and clinical staff.

Instrumental in helping save $20M as Chairman of the System Committee, by successfully reducing overall expenses and streamlining operations.

Led the Joint Commission Readiness Committee, resulting in two successful surveys.

Administrative Fellow (June, 2012 – May, 2013)

One-year fellowship program. Tasked with leading administrative rotations through all departments of the Baptist Health Hospitals, clinics, and corporate office.

Spearheaded a multi-disciplinary team to successfully meet Baptist Health Medical Center’s LRs Meaningful Use Criteria, resulting in $3M in revenue.

Developed a strategic business plan to build a rural health clinic (RHC) in Heber Springs, Arkansas.

Professional Affiliations

Society of Hospital Medicine

American College of Healthcare Executives

Medical Group Management Association

Healthcare Financial Management Association

UAMS: Master of Health Service Administration Alumni Association

Center to Advance Palliative Care

Community Affiliations

Little Rock Chamber of Commerce: Leadership Greater Little Rock Class 30 (2014 - 2015)

Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Competition – Student Business Plan Judge (2015 - 2018)

Arkansas Health Executives Forum Student Mentor – mentor to graduate students and young healthcare executives (2014 - 2018)

Junior Achievement of Arkansas volunteer (2016 - 2018)

Therapy Dogs International volunteer (2018)

Education

The University of Arkansas – Fayetteville, AR (2006 - 2010)

Bachelor of Science (BS), Business Administration

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences – Little Rock, AR (2010 - 2012)

Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA)

Elected UAMS MHSA Student Association President, 2011

Elected the UAMS College of Public Health Honors Council Secretary, 2011

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