INTHE
Maria Turner says she has always been drawn to numbers and math, which resulted in her selectingaccounting as a major. After becoming a CPA, she landed in ArthurAndersen’s Small Business division,focused on both audit and advisory.
After leaving Andersen, it was
a natural progression to continue
to focus on advisory services, she
says. “At AArete, our focus is on
Strategic Profitability Improve-
ment, using superior market intel-
ligence and big data to optimize
profits in a compressed timeframe,”
Turner says. “Two of AArete’s Ser-
vice Lines focus on the use of Digi-
tal & Data and on Technology to
drive measurable results.”
Today as a Managing Director,
she leads the firm’s Payment Intel-
ligence team focused on utilizing
client-tailored advanced data ana-
lytics and technology to optimize
payment accuracy in the healthcare
industry. Payment Intelligence is
a new approach to payment accu-
racy and integrity, focused not only
on overpayment recoveries, but on
one, improved compliance; two,
enhanced payer/provider relation-
ships resulting from the assurance of
timely reimbursements aligned with
contractual terms; and three, process
improvements and efficiencies that
allow payors to shift their focus to-
ward Medical Loss Ratio initiatives.
She says it was a business de-
cision to create a Payment Intelli-
gence Center of Excellence, maxi-
mizing the skills of the both the
business consultants and the data
scientists on the teams, that really
turned Payment Intelligence into
something great, she says. “I have
thoroughly enjoyed maximizing the
talent of our Payment Intelligence
team in order to standardize, digi-
tally transform and productize our
unique, innovative solution.”
Turner calls herself a “Maximiz-
er,” meaning “it is important to get
to know the unique skills and inter-
ests of the individuals on my vari-
ous teams and to bring out each of
their strengths in order to stimulate
the excellence of the overall team—
turning something strong into some-
thing superb,” she says.
Meanwhile, over the next twelve
months, Turner says she is looking
forward to the continuing growth
of AArete’s Payment Intelligence
Center of Excellence. “Initially, our
Payment Intelligence™ services
were developed in response to a
request from one client. Howev-
er, AArete quickly determined the
need for Payment Intelligence ser-
vices across the industry,” she says.
“In response, AArete developed a
solution that utilizes client-tailored
advanced data analytics, AArete’s
intellectual property and the Pay-
ment Intelligence proprietary meth-
odology to identify, recover and
prevent erroneous payments.”
As far as being named one of
the Women Leaders in Technol-
ogy, Turner says it is important
as it recognizes the importance
of Women as leaders in the field
of Technology Consulting. “As
the importance of diverse teams
moves to the forefront, being rec-
ognized as a female leader in the
industry brings credence to the
value of women in business.”
Have you experienced challenges being a woman in the technology field?
TURNER: “Throughout my career in a field historically dominated by men, I have had
many strong male mentors and mentored many young men. Coming up in an age
with few women in my field, it has been a challenge to find female mentorship. In
order to address this issue, I’ve become involved in networking groups and profes-
sional associations that give me the opportunity to build connections with strong
female leaders. I co-lead AArete’s Women’s Initiative which is focused on recruit-
ing, developing and retaining the next generation of strong female consultants.”
Q
&A
MARIA TURNER
AARETEEXCELLENCE INLEADERSHIP
