The Two Sides of Angel Hovanessian

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There are at least two sides to Angel Hovanessian. There is the passionate team builder, the veteran who is constantly pushing her people to continue their education and learn something new. She loves to cook a new dish, she loves to travel, and gives the impression that she would make an incredible teacher.

Then there is the vice president of revenue cycle and health information management for Emanate Health. That side of Hovanessian is not afraid to go the distance to guarantee her organization can keep providing care to its massive patient population as well as ensure employment for the organization’s three thousand-plus employees. If she doesn’t have the answer she needs, she’s unafraid to go knocking on the CEO’s door.

That is to say, it’s heaven to be on Hovanessian’s good side, and something else entirely to be an obstacle in her way to ensuring smooth operations for Emanate Health. That duality is what makes her such a great interview, and laughs come easily throughout the conversation.

Case in point: the gargantuan undertaking she and her team are currently focused on, to streamline Emanate’s entirely outsourced physician billing and bring it in-house.

“This will be a single source for a patient’s medical records and balances across the organization . . . We’re trying to make the system as easy for the patient, the provider, and for our own employees as possible.”

Angel Hovanessian

“We’re going to have this done by July 2023,” Hovanessian says, at time of speaking in April 2023. “And by January 1 [2024], we’ll make sure all of our providers and all of our clinics are in our EMR so everything can be generated from one single system.”

The scale of the project and the relative certainty that, given the VP’s decades in revenue cycle, she’ll make good on that promise. But the weight of that lift still needs to be recognized.

Emanate encompasses an extensive network of physicians and treatment providers that run the gamut: orthopedics, OBGYNs, pediatrics, neurology, oncology, family practice, urgent care, and much more. Hovanessian says that streamlining billing and encompassing that information within a single EMR will ensure continuity of care for Emanate’s patients, regardless of whether they consult physicians within the health system or out.

“This will be a single source for a patient’s medical records and balances across the organization,” she explains. “Patients themselves will be able to pull this information through our portal. We’re trying to make the system as easy for the patient, the provider, and for our own employees as possible.”

For Hovanessian, it’s work as usual. She has tracked Emanate patient journeys from beginning to end for over a decade. “I’m responsible from the time that the patient is scheduling their visit to the hospital, all the way until the balance is collected,” she says. “It is my responsibility, and I’ve always taken it very seriously.”

But those working underneath Hovanessian also know a different side of their boss. The VP is always encouraging her people to grow, whether that is by taking on a new role, continuing their education, or simply taking a risk in their lives. Education, especially, is a passion point for the revenue cycle leader. “Education is your ticket to fly,” she attests. “That opportunity was given to me by my parents, and that’s not a chance everyone gets. I try to be a mentor and a big sister . . . to show them how they can eventually replace me in this role.”

For some employees, that means helping them find ways to achieve their bachelor’s degrees, and for others, that might mean taking a chance on a promotion.

She remembers one employee confiding in her that she was considering a move to another employer because of her elevated salary requirements. Good bosses will encourage their people to leave if they have a better opportunity.

“Education is your ticket to fly. That opportunity was given to me by my parents, and that’s not a chance everyone gets. I try to be a mentor and a big sister, if I may, to show them how they can eventually replace me in this role.”

Angel Hovanessian

Hovanessian somehow did better. “I told her that I’d give her more than what she was looking for if she’d let me train her and grow her into a role,” she remembers. “She’s a supervisor now, but I think by this time next she’ll be a manager because she’s doing such a great job. Those are the kind of stories that mean so much to me.”

The VP is fully cognizant that regardless of salary, life can be difficult for her team. Paycheck-to-paycheck living is an all-too-frequent phenomenon for what are considered white-collar positions. Hovanessian wants the best for her people, and she’s willing to invest the time and effort to ensure anyone she feels responsible for finds a way to a healthier and happier life.

For those looking to earn Hovanessian’s title of revenue royalty, the VP says early investment is the key to future success.

“Make relationships with insurance companies, with your colleagues, and put in the work to understand the business you’re in,” she advises. “And if everything is correct at the time of registration—the coding and so forth—the backend will be much easier. That is time you can spend working with your front office staff, time to educate them and give them the tools they need to be successful.”

Hovanessian has a lifetime of revenue cycle experience and could fill a few volumes with her practical knowledge for those on the job. But right now, the only book she’s writing is a cookbook. The rest of her experience is still being passed on with passion, in person.

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