Q&A: Akash Madiah, chief financial officer, MGMA

In mid-October, Akash Madiah came on board as MGMA’s new chief financial officer. A native of Colorado, he holds a bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering and a major in economics from Northwestern University, along with an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Most recently, he served as regional CFO for the Colorado Springs DaVita Medical Group.

Here are Madiah’s insights on what drew him to healthcare, the importance of financial reporting in an organization and the best piece of advice he’s received during his career.
 

How did you get into finance?

For me, it was always something I’ve been interested in. I started as an engineer in college and later added an economics major given the heavy reliance on math and numbers. When I was graduating, I chose to go more of the finance/economics route and really never sought an engineering role. I’m glad I have my degree in industrial engineering because it has given me a different perspective and has helped me understand operations in a different way. But it was always something I was interested in and just always gravitated toward numbers and analysis.
 

What drew you to healthcare?

My first finance job in healthcare in 2012, after working in a number of finance roles in other industries through corporate finance, investment banking and consulting roles — was really the first time I found a true personal connection to my work and found a lot of fulfillment. You can do finance anywhere, but for me, it’s making that link to what you are actually helping to achieve with the work you do. Healthcare to me was making that connection — I know I’m not taking care of patients or saving patients’ lives, but I know I’m helping the people who do that and hopefully helping provide insights to make that job easier for them.
 

Having been in the healthcare space prior to joining MGMA, what are some of the major concerns for providers of care, both financially or otherwise?

Speaking firsthand to what I saw financially is how to run a profitable business in a fee-for-service environment when you are competing against hospital systems or other independent physician groups. That was a big challenge for us because we had these competitive pressures and it’s hard to strike the right balance between providing good patient care while also earning enough to invest in your doctors and systems to transform into a value-based organization. There are just so many things you have to do administratively to do that and that was a big challenge. Halee [Fischer-Wright, MGMA President and CEO] talks about it a lot, but there’s so many administrative things for a doctor to take care of. How do you take those things off their plate to allow them to solely concentrate on patient care and not be worried by administrative tasks? The complexity of all these factors lead to physician burnout and being able to provide the right care.
 

Do you see any financial risks in broader markets that could affect healthcare in the coming years?

I’m not sure if it’s a financial risk or not, but overall consolidation, whether it be physician groups or pharmacy related. There are still a lot of TBDs on how this is going to affect patient care and what it is going to do to overall healthcare costs. There are pros and cons to it from a strategic perspective, but I don’t think we have really answered how it is going to affect actual healthcare costs and answering the question of whether care will actually be better. Those are the big things — like how these mergers perform in the short term are going to lend itself to what it means for the overall industry going forward in the long term.
 

From your view as a CFO, how vital is financial reporting to an organization?

A high-performing finance and accounting team within a company can provide invaluable insight for the organization. Tying that financial performance to the operations and saying, “Here’s what worked, here’s what didn’t work,” can allow you to take the data and forecast what’s going to happen. It’s our duty to provide the right path for the organization, so you are making the right decisions going forward. A good finance team can exist in any industry, but it’s particularly important in healthcare because things change and move quickly. Through reporting, we can understand trends, be adaptive and change our course of action. The ability to be nimble through given circumstances is particularly invaluable.   
 

Getting personal

What is your favorite food?

I don’t think I have one favorite food. I just love really good food, whether it be a food truck or a gourmet meal. For me, it’s — depending on the mood — hard to decide between good sushi or Italian or Indian or Chinese sometimes.
 

What is the best piece of advice someone gave you?

I’ve had multiple people give me this advice and I still find myself coming back to it — always be curious and never stop learning. Throughout my personal and professional life, whether it’s through different jobs or hobbies, I always strive to keep growing and learning. If I’m not challenging myself or it becomes stagnant, then it’s time to move on.
 

Who is your mentor or role model?

For me, my role model is my father. I was born in India and we came to the U.S. when I was very young. Just seeing his sacrifice and what he did for the family moving us to the U.S., and how we were able to make a life for ourselves here has always been inspirational for me.  
 

Do you have any special holiday traditions?

For us, it’s always just a lot of family coming in and spending time at our house. My oldest son’s birthday is two days before Christmas, so it’s become kind of a month of celebration and getting the families together.