1. Albert M. Johnston
Al Johnston is an Expert Practitioner (Sr. Manager) with the North Highland Company. He has over 15
years of experience specializing in complex project management, system implementation management
and process improvement. Specific areas of expertise include managing the implementation of health
care software solutions; managing software and report development process (includes business and
functional specification development), business and IT process analysis, documentation and
improvement (including ITIL); Security Risk Assessments; Business Continuity Planning and Business
Strategy.
Examples of some of the significant engagements Al has been involved with include:
Currently managing the transition from ICD-9 (International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision) to
ICD-10 for a large healthcare company based in middle Tennessee. ICD-10 will be used by
Physicians and other providers to code all diagnosis, symptoms, and procedures recorded in
hospitals and physician practices. To adhere to a federally mandated shift to ICD-10 by October 1,
2015, Al was responsible for successfully managing the following areas of the ICD-9 to ICD-10
transition:
o Technology
Upgrades (to gain ICD-10 compliance, at a minimum)
System/Process mitigation (where upgrades were not available)
o Payer Testing
Completed testing with the organization’s largest revenue generating payers to
ensure a successful cutover to ICD-10
o Patient Access and Clinical Forms Mitigation
Reviewed and updated Patient Access and Clinical Form documentation and
updated for ICD-10
Managed multiple Case Management projects for a large multi-national healthcare company. These
projects vary in function, size, and scope. They are in the areas of:
o Midas+ Upgrades/changes (driven by both corporate needs and industry mandates (REGS))
o New Acquisition Midas+ implementations
o Facility Divestitures
o Clinical Documentation Improvement Initiatives
o Readmission Focus Studies
o Various internal projects for Case Management (Proprietary)
Managed the implementation of Case Management technology for a large multi-national healthcare
company. Led the implementation effort of over 160 facility implementations over a multi-year period.
Often managing multiple division roll-outs at different stages of maturity, consisting of up to 45 facility
implementations occurring at the same time. Required complex project management and
implementation expertise to complete within the targeted completion dates. The project came in
under budget and exceeding customer satisfaction in each division implemented.
Led a report development effort for the business customers by working with the IT organization to
generate patient quality reports for a large multi-national dialysis corporation. In addition to managing
the overall development process, Al was tasked with discovery, analysis and documentation of
Functional and Business Requirements to build the enterprise reports. Daily interaction was
conducted with the development team to ensure that the requested functionality was doable within
the given timeframe. By conducting daily/weekly meeting facilitation (and status reporting) the entire
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team was able to manage change quicker with minimal impact to the overall timeline. Report
development was consistently completed before the due date and within budget.
Led a software development effort for a global leader in the area of environmental, fuel, and facility
compliance solution management. Worked with the organization (business & IT) and its business
customers to develop business and functional specifications for a compliance software solution.
Managed the development process and addressed gaps in the development process. Timelines
were met and budgets were not exceeded. Project scope was maintained during the development
phase by implementing weekly status meetings, between the business, the customers and IT
development staff. The software solution was new to the industry. Since development, the solution
has become an industry standard.
Managed a payroll and human resources software application (UltiPro) implementation for a large,
national, nursing home corporation. The effort required the documentation and analysis of current
and future state payroll processes. Al also performed a detailed gap analysis between the
functionality provided by the UltiPro software and the company-specific payroll requirements. His
team introduced training and implementation procedures used to implement the change at the
corporate and facility levels. As an added element Al provided security policy recommendations to
include in corporate policy.
Led an effort to identify physical security gaps within a large multi-national healthcare organization.
The vulnerabilities were measured and a security roll-out plan was developed to introduce solutions
to the organization over a given timeframe and within a defined budget. Corporate leadership was
involved in the oversight of this project and was extremely complimentary of the outcomes presented.
Degrees:
Masters of Business Administration, Marketing & Strategy Design, Mississippi State University
Bachelor of Business Administration, Marketing, Mississippi State University
Bachelor of Business Administration, Management, Mississippi State University
.
Certifications:
CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional)
Skills
Industry Experience:
Healthcare, Health Services, Public Services, Financial, Claims
Project Type / Discipline Experience: Complex Project Management, Implementations, Business
Planning, Business Process Design, Facilitation, ITIL, Organizational Development, Product Selection,
Process Management, Requirements Gathering and Analysis, Risk Assessments, Strategy Development
Technical Experience: Midas+, American Healthtech, Clarity, MS Office Suite, MS Project, MS Excel,
Ultimate UltiPro
