Originally posted on HMENews.com on September 27, 2024
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Prochant is entering a new phase with a new CEO.
Prochant has tapped Joey Graham, who has been with the company since 2015, most recently as chief revenue officer, to lead the company. Mathew Mammen, owner and CEO, has transitioned to the role of executive chairman.
“We’ve made it through the startup phase and the growth phase, and now we’ve arrived at the scale phase,” Graham said. “We have to leverage repeatable models, and we have to get leadership and culture right, and I think we’re well-positioned to do that.”
Prochant, which started as Prometheus Group in 1999, has grown to employ nearly 3,000 people and, while it still prioritizes U.S.-based leadership and oversight, it now has a global presence with an office in India.
Here’s what Graham had to say about where the company is headed and why he’s the person to take them there.
HME News: What do you bring to the table as CEO of Prochant?
Joey Graham: Whether it’s operations, sales, client services or finance, I’ve definitely been involved (in various roles with increasing responsibility). I was the general manager for several years before moving to the CRO role, so (the CEO role) is a natural progression. I also think it’s great signaling, internally to the team, that when we told them years ago we wanted to promote from within that we meant it. Hard work and embodying our core values means growth opportunity, and you could be CEO one day. We want to mix in new talent but give our people an opportunity to grow. I’ve been working with Mathew for so long now, we share the same vision for the company and I’m able to carry that torch forward.
HME: What is one big way that you have seen Prochant evolve over the years from a boutique billing company to a large enterprise?
Graham: When I came on in 2015, the company (had a presence in India) and was ready for serious growth. We introduced a new business model that really transformed our growth path – and the industry. Up to that point, what every billing service offered was an end-to-end solution only. Suppliers go out and get a delivery ticket signed, and we’ll get it billed and collected. We introduced a focused-solution model, where we offer point solutions to people to fill in their labor and technology gaps. It really lowered the barrier to entry for outsourcing. When I started, our business was 100% end-to-end; today’s mix is 60/40.
HME: How will the company evolve further in the short- and long-term?
Graham: We’re looking to round out our services to offer patient and referral management services, and we’re really committed to information security, given what happened with Change Healthcare. We’re also working on our own AI initiatives that interlay with the data and experience we have. We’re managing intake, eligibility, prior authorization, billing, collections and cash posting, and we have the data to train AI models to do things others can’t. There’s cool stuff that we’re developing, and you’ll see more of that coming out in the year.
HME: What excites you about Prochant and the larger HME industry?
Graham: Our market share is relatively modest in the DME market – there’s so much runway left and so much good to be done. There are so many problems suppliers are still losing sleep over and so much opportunity. It’s exciting to think about AI, machine learning and large language models and weaving that into our processes and finding ways to reduce errors, so at the end of the day, (our clients) can collect more at a lower cost of collections. All of that has an impact on patient care, and our clients’ ability to deliver amazing service.