Leadership Spotlight: Michelle Atkins
Welcome to RELI Group’s Leadership Spotlight series! In this series, we’ll delve into the background, passions and philosophies of some of Team RELI’s best and brightest minds. Each post includes the same five questions, offering a comprehensive glimpse into the folks that make RELI great.
In today’s Leadership Spotlight, get to know Michelle Atkins, RELI’s Vice President of Program Integrity. Michelle has more than 25 years of professional experience in healthcare management, including 14 years in federal healthcare and medical record review services at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). She has successfully transitioned multiple large review contracts at CMS through extensive expertise in medical records, quality assurance processes, and project and program management. She currently leads RELI’s Program Integrity sector, providing executive oversight of medical record review, training, and customer support services at CMS, Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Can you share a pivotal moment in your career that influenced your path in government contracting?
I started in government contracting back in 2008 after working primarily on the provider side of healthcare, and in a pivotal moment, a friend referred me to my first government contracting job. I’ve always loved learning and educating, and making the switch to government contracting offered me a whole new perspective. I started in a relatively new program, the RADV program, and those early years were filled with learning. I had seen healthcare from one side and wanted to understand the bigger picture from the government side. This constant learning and the challenge of understanding something
new really pushed me further into the field.
What drives your passion for working in government contracting?
My passion lies primarily in program integrity, especially in the areas of fraud, waste and abuse. I believe that the work we do in these areas makes a significant difference, both in protecting the healthcare system and ensuring the integrity of the services provided. It’s rewarding to know that our work has a direct impact on the general public, especially when it comes to safeguarding the public’s trust in our federal healthcare programs.
How do you approach leadership and team building?
For me, relationships are at the heart of leadership. Building strong relationships with my coworkers, teams and anyone I work with is essential. I’ve been fortunate to maintain long-term working relationships, with many of us migrating together from different contracts and small businesses over the years. Being a good leader means understanding the work my team does, leading by example, and always looking out for their best interests.
What innovations or trends in the program integrity sector excite you the most?
One of the most exciting trends in our sector is process automation. We’ve introduced robotic process automation (RPA) technology to streamline administrative tasks in medical review and coding, reducing manual work and adding efficiency. But I’m especially fascinated by how artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving, particularly in identifying clinical information and other data in medical records. I’m excited to see where AI takes us in the next few years.
Can you discuss a project or initiative you’re particularly proud of?
One of the highlights of my career has been my work at RELI Group over the past eight years. I joined RELI when it was still a small company, and I was part of one of the first prime contract awards we received. Watching the company grow, especially in the program integrity space, has been incredibly rewarding. We started with just one medical review contract, and now we’ve expanded to several. Seeing both the company and the program integrity line of business thrive has been a proud moment for me.