Pre-Snap Read:
Getting the Front End Right
Tue, Aug 4, 2026 · 1:00–1:45 PM CT · Virtual
Film Room
Game Recap
The Revenue Cycle Playbook kicked off with Q1: “Pre-Snap Read — Getting the Front End Right,” and Solutions Group came out of the tunnel swinging. Host Asbel Montes was joined by SGS business development lead — and former Seattle Seahawks and Philadelphia Eagles tight end — Griffin Hebert, who set the tone with the story of his muffed-punt recovery in front of 68,000 fans at Lumen Field. His lesson for revenue cycle teams: wins are built in the unglamorous daily reps, not the highlight reel.
Montes translated that game film to the life of a claim: document your processes (no more tribal knowledge), standardize intake, build a hybrid model that automates the 80–90% and works the exceptions, and revisit your verification triggers every few months — not every few years. Guest Angie McLain-Johnson of Pafford Medical Services shared how her team's new tiered verification model is already routing 25% of accounts straight to coding and cutting days-to-bill to 8–9 days, and SGS Program Manager Megan Smith closed the huddle with the back-end red flags that expose a weak front end.
Key Takeaways
Game Notes
- 01Get tribal knowledge on paper — if a key person leaves for a week, whatever stops is your blind spot.
- 02Don't build a “super biller” — specialized roles beat jack-of-all-trades generalists.
- 03Automate the 80–90%, work the exceptions — never kill a working process over one exception.
- 04Tier your verification — Pafford routes 25% of accounts straight to coding (goal: 80–85%).
- 05Speed follows process — days-to-bill down to 8–9 days (goal 6–7) within ~90 days.
- 06Judge the front end by back-end data: days to drop a claim, first-pass denials, QA pileups.
- 07Teach the “why,” and trust-but-verify AI — it should augment coders, not replace them.
The Huddle
Who was on the field
Asbel Montes
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Solutions Group
Host of The Revenue Cycle Playbook and The Leadership Lab podcast.
Griffin Hebert
Business Development Manager
Solutions Group
Former Seattle Seahawks and Philadelphia Eagles tight end.
Megan Smith
Program Manager
Solutions Group
Related Listening
The Leadership Lab
From the Field to Finance: Building Winning Teams in Healthcare with Griffin Hebert
The Leadership Lab with Asbel Montes
Loved the play-of-the-game analogy? Asbel and Griffin go deeper on the life of a claim in this episode.
Next Up
Q2 — Moving the Chains: Coding & Charge Capture
Wed, Aug 12, 2026 · 1:00–1:45 PM CT