about rmhn

our mission

Rocky Mountain Health Network will play a key role in improving quality and cost-efficiency over the full continuum of medical care. Comprehensive business and management services options are available to support medical providers and facilities.

our team

Carol Beam

President/CEO

Burke Kufeld

Director of Finance

Christy O'Connor

Manager Healthcare
Business Services

Kristi Mangus

Billing Supervisor

Lacey Wattles

Population Health
Informatics Analyst

Lori Northam

Gov’t Payer Specialist/CPC

who we are and what we do

Rocky Mountain Health Network, Inc., is a Physician Hospital Organization (PHO). A PHO is a vehicle that enables hospitals and physicians to work collaboratively toward accomplishing agreed upon objectives. The primary purpose for forming a PHO is to develop improved methods of healthcare delivery that incorporate comprehensive clinical integration. The future success of healthcare is dependent upon hospitals, physicians and other care givers working together. The PHO is an excellent model because it creates the entity that brings everyone together.

advantages of PHO

Provides an organized approach for participating
hospitals and physicians to manage population
health and better coordinate care across the care
continuum
Serves as a clearinghouse for many administrative
duties such as insurance credentialing and
utilization management. This reduces the burden
on the individual providers and facilities.
Drives high-quality, cost-effective care delivery
through promotion of evidence-based care
standards and decision support tools, and the
reduction of unnecessary variation and utilization
Allows participating physicians to align economic
incentives for improvements in cost, quality and
efficiency for the evolving reimbursement models

RMHN was founded in 1991 by St. Vincent Healthcare
and its affiliated medical staff. RMHN was formed to
provide a comprehensive network of providers that
contracts with commercial payers for the provision of
care in Yellowstone and surrounding counties. Today,
RMHN brings together hospitals, surgery centers,

primary care physicians, specialists and allied health professional to help employers and others with quality, cost and access.

RMHN has over 1,000 provider members throughout Montana and Wyoming. Through the successful collaboration of these members, tens of thousands of people have access to the highest quality care. RMHN simplifies its member’s ability to participate in multiple health plans. As a messenger model, RMHN serves as the liaison with managed care organizations and each member has the ability to opt in or opt out of participating in the payer agreement. RMHN currently manages over 30 payer agreements on behalf of its members. RMHN works proactively with payers, third party administrators and other networks to ensure continued access to high quality healthcare.

In the Fall of 2013, RMHN formed a wholly owned
subsidiary, Rocky Mountain Accountable Health Network
(RMAHN). RMAHN is the Accountable Care Organization for St. Vincent Healthcare and its affiliated providers.
Members of RMHN have access to the ACO and all of its initiatives. For additional information on RMAHN, click here.

board of directors

Carol Beam

President/CEO

Brett MacAdam, MD

Board Chair

Michael Wilcox, MD

Medical Director – Credentialing

Zachary Scheer, MD

Medical Director – Population Health

Blackshear Bryan III, MD

Jennifer Alderfer, MBA, MHA, FACHE

President

Joel Dunn, MD

Lori Northam

Gov’t Payer Specialist/CPC

Lori brings 30 years of medical experience to her job as Government Payer Enrollment Specialist. She joined Rocky Mountain Health Network in July 2006 as a Medical Biller after working at St. Vincent Healthcare for 13 years in the Admitting Office and Surgery Plus.

Lori grew up in the Midwest and moved to Billings in 1975. She attended Billings West High School and earned her bachelor’s degree from Montana State University-Billings. Lori has also earned her CPC credentials.

She loves detail oriented work, working with provider offices and the challenge of learning something new every day. Lori also enjoys making stained glass, reading, spending time with her family and making people smile

Christy O'Connor

Manager Healthcare Business Services

Christy joined Rocky Mountain Health Network in October of 2015. She brings 20 years of experience in the medical industry, ranging from marketing, practice management, consulting, and revenue cycle management. Christy is a member of the MTMGMA and the MGMA. Christy oversees all of the Billing, Collections, Coding and Scanning services offered at Rocky Mountain Health Network for independent medical practices across Montana and Wyoming.

Christy was born in Miles City, MT, and was raised on a ranch in southwestern North Dakota. She moved to Billings to attend college and graduated from Eastern Montana College. Christy received a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration Management in 1995. When she is not at work, Christy and her husband are actively involved with their two daughter’s sporting activities. Christy and her family enjoy everything Montana has to offer including the amazing skiing, water sports, volleyball, basketball and soccer.

Christy is very excited to work with all the various medical specialties we have the privilege to serve. The goal within the Healthcare Business Services division is to “take care of your revenue cycle, so you can take care of your patients.”

Burke Kufeld

Director of Finance

Burke Kufeld has over 25 years of experience working in healthcare finance. Burke graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Finance from the University of Montana and later earned a Master’s of Business Administration with a Finance emphasis degree from Washington State University. He started working for Lutheran Health Systems (now Banner Health) at their System Office in Fargo, ND before taking leadership positions at facilities in Brush, Colorado and Loveland, Colorado. Burke then worked for the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health (now Intermountain) at St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings and Holy Rosary Healthcare in Miles City. Prior to coming to Rocky Mountain Health Network, Burke served as the Chief Financial Officer for Rimrock Foundation in Billings. Burke has extensive experience working in healthcare finance including strategic planning, budgeting, staffing productivity, and capital and operational analysis in both rural and non-rural settings.

Lacey Wattles

Population Health Informatics Analyst

Lacey joined Rocky Mountain Health Network in July 2015. She brings an in-depth knowledge of healthcare data, reporting and analytics to her new role. Population health has become an integral part of health care as payers are shifting to reimbursement based on quality of care rather than traditional fee-for-service. Lacey’s role for Rocky Mountain Accountable Health Network, an accountable care organization, is to facilitate and support the goal of accountable care, which is to ensure that patients, especially the chronically ill, get the right care at the right time, while avoiding unnecessary duplication of services and preventing medical errors. Using data analytic tools and reports, she works with Care Coordinators, quality team members and medical staff to reach the targeted patients.

Lacey earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration-Management Information Systems from Montana State University-Billings. She is also pursuing her Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) certification.

Lacey has worked in many different aspects of healthcare including IT, Electronic Medical Record (EMR) management, medical billing software implementations, skilled nursing facility administration, Third Party Administrator (TPA) experience, and healthcare clinic administration.

Her passion for analyzing patient data for the purpose of improving patient care while controlling costs is what drives her motivation to ensure the success of the ACO.

Audrey Stene

Provider Relations Specialist

Audrey Stene joined Rocky Mountain Health Network in April 2001. Audrey grew up in Forsyth and attended Forsyth High School, Miles Community College and Billings Business College.

Audrey is the liaison with the RMHN members and all of the RMHN payers. Her experience includes payer contracting, contract management, network development, and reimbursement. She has an excellent working relationship with all of the RMHN members and all of the contracted payer networks. Audrey’s attention to detail ensures contract compliance and she is always available to assist a provider with any and all claims questions. She also works closely with the Credentialing Specialist to ensure timely and accurate payer credentialing for all RMHN providers.

Customer Service is extremely important to Audrey and she is very passionate about assisting the RMHN members. She prides herself on her ability to resolve issues quickly. You can bet that during Audrey’s time at RMHN, she has handled just about every kind of issue imaginable. Audrey’s passion for customer service is one of many reasons why RMHN members are very loyal to the organization.

Audrey has three children Alayna, Jase and Arber. She loves to spend time with her family, shopping with her daughter, Alayna, watching her son, Jase play baseball and reading books to her youngest daughter, Arber.

Carol Beam

PRESIDENT/CEO

Carol has been involved in healthcare in Billings for over 25 years and brought her expertise and knowledge to Rocky Mountain Health Network in August of 2014. Prior to the move to Rocky, Carol played a key role in the marketing, planning and business development department at St. Vincent Healthcare. Her work in healthcare includes 10 years at the Yellowstone Community Health Plan, one of the first managed care products in the region designed to improve access to care while improving quality and lowering costs.

Carol is a Montana native, born and raised in Bozeman. She received her BSBA in Accounting from Montana State University Billings and her MBA from the University of Montana in Missoula. She will tell you she’s a successful product of the Montana University System, having graduated from 2 of the state’s higher education institutions and having attended MSU in Bozeman and Montana Tech in Butte. Carol is an avid volunteer in Billings. She has served in leadership positions on the boards at MSUB and the MSUB Foundation, Yellowstone Art Museum, and Good Earth Market. She was recognized as an MSUB Outstanding Alum. She was an honoree from the YWCA’s Salute to Women and was most recently recognized as one of the 20 most influential women in Billings.

Carol will tell you that one of her personal goals is to help the community she lives in be healthier. Working at Rocky Mountain Health Network and its affiliated organization, Rocky Mountain Accountable Health Network, gives her the opportunity to realize this goal. The future of healthcare is really going to be about “health” and Carol is excited to be leading Rocky to that future state.

about rmhn

our mission

our team

Carol Beam

President/CEO

Burke Kufeld

Director of Finance

Christy O'Connor

Manager Healthcare Business Services

Kristi Mangus

Billing Supervisor

Lacey Wattles

Population Health Informatics Analyst

Lori Northam

Gov’t Payer Specialist/CPC

who we are and what we do

advantages of PHO

board of directors

Carol Beam

President/CEO

Brett MacAdam, MD

Board Chair

Michael Wilcox, MD

Medical Director – Credentialing

Zachary Scheer, MD

Medical Director – Population Health

Blackshear Bryan III, MD

Jennifer Alderfer, MBA, MHA, FACHE

President

Joel Dunn, MD

© 2023 Rocky Mountain Health Network

Lori Northam

Gov’t Payer Specialist/CPC

Christy O'Connor

Manager Healthcare Business Services

Burke Kufeld

Director of Finance

Lacey Wattles

Population Health Informatics Analyst

Audrey Stene

Provider Relations Specialist

Carol Beam

PRESIDENT/CEO

Manager Healthcare
Business Services

Population Health
Informatics Analyst