Brent Cherne is a healthcare financial executive with an extensive background in multiple areas of healthcare from managing regional medical centers to developing critical access hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. In his free time Mr. Cherne also enjoys using his skills while serving on the board or as treasurer of various community organizations.
How did you get started in this industry?
The recession in the early 1980s resulted in few companies hiring just as I graduated from college. One of the few exceptions for hiring was hospitals and I was able to land a job with a hospital system. I also leaned towards the healthcare industry as my father was a surgeon and my mother was a nurse.
How did you get your first job?
I got married young, after my sophomore year of college, so I needed to be able to work as well as finish school. I worked fulltime my last two years of college and still finished in four years with a 3.2 GPA.
What do you think it is that makes you successful?
My success in business begins with integrity. Once leadership, peers and subordinates understand the level of integrity I have then leadership trusts me with more responsibility; peers know that I will get the job done and do it well; and subordinates know I will be fair and will look out for their best interests. Another reason for my success is my strong work ethic where I’m not afraid to put in the hours necessary to achieve the stated goals.
What has been your most satisfying moment in business/in your career?
The most satisfying moment in my career was when I negotiated the sale of a very successful ambulatory surgery center (performing over 8,000 procedures per year) that I had developed from ground up and then managed. It sold to a national hospital company and returned to investors 29 times their investment.
What does the future hold for this industry? What are you most excited about?
The healthcare industry is all about change and the future will bring about more change. For healthcare finance the biggest changes have been in reimbursement methodologies going from cost reimbursement to DRGs to HMOs and now Clinically Integrated Networks with at-risk models of reimbursement. I personally enjoy variety and change and find it exciting to learn new models and figure out how to maximize reimbursement under the latest plan.
What business books have inspired you?
Books on leadership have always caught my attention and especially those on servant leadership. I believe the most successful way for management to engage employees is through servant leadership. Turn the Ship Around by L. David Marquet is an excellent book on this subject as is Legacy by James Kerr.
What is a recent purchase that you have made that’s helped with your business or career?
Books on CDs have been a life saver for my daily commute. Not only does it take the stress out of traffic jams but it makes the trips go by so much faster and I learn something as well.
Leave us with one point that few individuals know about you.
I’m an avid scuba diver enjoying diving all over the world.
Brent Cherne around the web:
https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Brent-Cherne/-1819321591
http://www.cpadirectory.com/certified-public-accountants/idaho/eagle-id/1162372/brent-cherne-cpa
http://www.outpatientsurgery.net/guides/selling-or-syndicating-your-surgical-center/2009/the-good-and-bad-of-hospital-partnerships
https://www.pr.com/press-release/176377
http://app.ihi.org/FacultyDocuments/Events/Event-2930/Posterboard-5580/Document-5294/Poster.pdf
http://www.buzzfile.com/business/Florence-Community-Healthcare-520-429-4043
https://www.hipaaspace.com/medical_billing/coding/national_provider_identifier/codes/npi_1710204433.txt
https://www.saintalphonsus.org/newsletters/critical-connections/critical-connections-august-2016/boise-news/caring-for-colleagues-family-campaign-raises-over-130000
https://azhfma.org/Award_Recipients
https://sites.google.com/view/brentcherne/home
https://www.levo.com/brent-cherne
https://about.me/brentcherne
https://www.behance.net/brentcherne