Joe Spann, CEO and Partner of Fifth Avenue Healthcare Services, has 20+ years of healthcare experience. From his beginnings at an integrated delivery system to his current position, Joe has led numerous efforts to make healthcare better for everyone. Focusing on technology and workflow design, he has spearheaded the development of multiple credentialing and malpractice risk management programs, as well as software meant to optimize the lengthy credentialing process.
Driving results while remaining a family man and friend is a juggling act that Joe handles with fantastic dexterity. We at Fifth Avenue Healthcare Service treasure his determination to inspire us all.
Laying the Foundation
Joe Spann attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Christian university is globally recognized for its success in preparing its students spiritually, intellectually, and physically to go into every person’s world. Developing leaders involves helping them grow in faith to become what they are called to be.
Joe graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Business Management and minoring in English Literature. ORU’s College of Business is taught by qualified professors who follow a purpose-driven approach to business education. These educators include company presidents, international marketing executives, and entrepreneurs. The College of Business helps its students gear up to meet the blistering demands that today’s enterprises constantly encounter. The school boasts a student population of 4,000+ from 100+ countries. Campus groups and employment opportunities help students forge lasting relationships and hone their leadership potential. Graduating from ORU gave Joe the foundation to pursue a future leadership role and excel wherever he went. Now, he needed to pile experience on top of the groundwork.
Gaining Experience
Joe Spann enjoyed a fruitful career at Hillcrest Healthcare System in Tulsa. From 1998 to 2004, Joe gained experience that would steer him toward professional success.
Hillcrest Healthcare System encompasses several hospitals and 80 regional clinics, including the Oklahoma Heart Institute and the Tulsa Spine & Specialty Hospital. The Oklahoma Heart Institute is the region’s most advanced hospital for preventing and treating heart disease. The Tulsa Spine & Specialty Hospital is ranked the #1 spine hospital in Oklahoma. With so many accolades bolstering its reputation, Hillcrest could not afford to recruit just anyone off the streets. The company needed talented experts who could shoulder the burdens placed upon them. They needed someone to help them sustain their success and growth as one of the State’s highest-valued medical resources. They turned to Joe Spann.
He began his time at Hillcrest in the risk management division. He oversaw many facets of risk-bearing managed care contracts. Among his many duties, he led financial decision-making support services.
In time, he fulfilled the Manager of Information Resources, Provider Networks, and Utilization Management position. Managing multiple physician networks was just one responsibility. Joe’s considerable experience was leaned on when he was expected to advise Hillcrest on every aspect of the revenue cycle at both the physician practice and hospital levels.
At Hillcrest, Joe met Brad Bond, Vice President of Managed Care Contracting. A graduate of Southern Nazarene University, the Organizational Leadership major was collecting experience he drew upon each day. Brad was seemingly a perfect match for Joe, specializing in Health Plan Contracting, Revenue Cycle Management, Provider Relations, and more. Both shared similar work ethics and visions for the future, a future that saw them leave their leadership positions to launch the Physician Management Assistance Group.
The Physician Management Assistance Group changed how credentialing was done by providing credentialing through a new delegated model. Evolving credentialing would be a common thread throughout Joe’s career. By this point, Joe Spann had several children. With a new company to set up, he had to ramp up his efficiency at home and the office. His hard work paid off as the Physician Management Assistance Group began to make waves. However, the biggest waves were just over the horizon.
Building Fifth Avenue Healthcare Services
In 2010, Joe Spann and Brad Bond met Guy Feist at a Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) conference. Guy and his father, Mr. James Feist, started Fifth Avenue Agency in 2003. Guy had already garnered a reputation for helping Oklahoma physicians navigate a turbulent malpractice insurance market. He had run his agency for 10+ years before starting Fifth Avenue Agency.
Mr. James Feist had decades of insurance experience. Earning his MS in Marketing from Oklahoma State University and his MBA from the University of Oklahoma, Mr. Feist obtained his insurance license in 1968. He also received a Charted Financial Consultant and a Charted Life Underwriter from The American College of Financial Services. Guy and James Feist had the expertise and more than enough experience to make Fifth Avenue Agency the State’s premier malpractice insurance solution.
From the outset, it was clear that the four men had similar aspirations to provide progressive services to Oklahoma physicians. Fifth Avenue Agency managed malpractice insurance with unparalleled knowledge and understanding. Joe and Brad’s Physician Management Assistance Group performed credentialing via its innovative model. They realized that medical malpractice underwriting and credentialing at their core served risk management. Both practices used the same data, asked many of the same questions, and assisted the same clients.
It made perfect sense for both companies to join forces. They did not waste the opportunity to benefit from the synergy of a streamlined underwriting process gained from this aggregated data while providing complimentary services.
The new Fifth Avenue Physician Services combined the deep healthcare management experience of the Physician Management Assistance Group with the top-notch client service of Fifth Avenue Agency.
Launching across nearly 40 states using new partnerships and a fully integrated network, the company offered its clients the same exceptional credentialing, medical professional liability insurance, and provider enrollment services as before. The only difference was that they leveraged their services against one another, expediting results in a fast-paced field. With Joe, Brad, Guy, and James at the helm, Fifth Avenue Physician Services steadily grew its reputation while remaining grounded in humility, faith, and family. In 2017, the company updated its name to Fifth Avenue Healthcare Services to reflect a more inclusive service. Website refreshes accompanied the change for its three brands.
The subsequent years found Joe Spann and the other leaders making great strides to increase Fifth Avenue Healthcare Services’ reputation as the one solution to medical credentialing, provider enrollment, and MPLI.
5ACVO streamlines the credentialing process for medical providers, faculty, and other medical entities. Serving 6,000+ medical professionals across the United States, 5ACVO performs smarter and simpler credentialing. Their speed and accuracy allow qualified providers to begin working and billing quickly.
Primoris Credentialing Network is the Midwest’s largest IPA (independent physician association). The company offers providers 54+ health plans and network options. Primoris abides by the principles of administrative simplicity. Streamlining the complex provider enrollment process helps physicians start billing as soon as they start working.
Fifth Avenue Agency uses the credentialing data and technology of the Fifth Avenue Healthcare Services family to cut the costs and time it takes to obtain medical malpractice insurance. Their simple yet effective system can contribute to a competitive market, stimulating lower rates.
Although years have passed and names have changed, Joe’s commitment to improving the medical industry remains as strong as ever. He has been quoted as saying, “We work behind the scenes in the daily grind of credentialing to do our part towards the goal we all share of helping those fighting ailments get the help they need . . . without disruptions caused by the tedious credentialing process.”
Inspiring Dedication
The Fifth Avenue Healthcare Services 1st Quarter 2022 Summit celebrated the company’s achievements and recognized some of the team’s longevity. The Fifth Avenue Family Tenure Awards acknowledged our team members with 10+ years of service—their dedication advocates for evidence that Joe is a great leader to work for.
Igniting Excellence
Years of service demonstrate only one aspect of Joe’s quality of work and leadership. Awards enhancing Fifth Avenue Healthcare Services’ standing as a trailblazer in credentialing, provider enrollment, and MPLI solutions demonstrate that diligence and raw ability can pay off.
The Healthcare ADAwards
Since 1983, the Healthcare Advertising Awards have spotlighted healthcare marketing and advertising efforts in the United States. The awards signify first-rate creativity and execution. With 4,000+ entries, the celebration is one of the country’s largest advertising award events.
In 2021, Fifth Avenue Healthcare Services’ member company 5ACVO earned a Silver Award for its “Credentialing: Before & After 5ACVO” campaign. We also received a Merit for Website Refresh.
2022 saw us win the Silver Award for our remarkable healthcare credentialing blog. Featuring informative articles about credentialing, medical malpractice, and other hot topics, the blog has become an online destination for industry professionals.
The Aster Healthcare Awards
The Aster Awards were founded in 2002. The prestigious event highlights exemplary healthcare marketing messaging. Boasting the most inclusive groups in healthcare advertising, the elite competition awards only the most talented marketing professionals.
2021 saw our partner companies, 5ACVO, and Primoris Credentialing Network’s respective websites, win awards. 5ACVO’s “Credentialing: Before & After” campaign also won, obtaining a coveted Silver Award.
Our blog continued to rack up awards in 2022, winning a Silver Award. With the 2023 Aster Healthcare Awards around the corner, Fifth Avenue Healthcare Services should clear another spot on its trophy shelf.
NCQA Credentialing Accreditation
While industry awards hold much weight with our peers and members, some accomplishments prove we offer more than impactful marketing campaigns and insightful blog articles. NCQA Credentialing Accreditation is more than an honor. It is a mark of excellence that tells people we are a trusted partner of the credentialing community.
NCQA (the National Committee for Quality Assurance) is a private, nonprofit organization that studies how well health plans and physicians provide care. They use their findings to create guidelines for the entire medical field. NCQA identifies organizations that best exemplify these standards.
Credentialing is necessary for every healthcare provider who wants to administer care and be enrolled in a health plan or network. The complex process can single out providers who are unfit to practice medicine. Insurance companies, medical organizations, and patients can all benefit from proper credentialing.
Any Credentials Verification Organization can claim to deliver the best credentialing services. NCQA Credentialing Accreditation legitimizes authenticity.
Fifth Avenue Healthcare Services and its 5ACVO and Primoris Credentialing Network brands are accredited by NCQA in Credentialing. Under Joe Spann and the leadership team’s watch, we have proven to have the systems, processes, and personnel to perform credentialing according to the strictest quality standards.
Enhancing Healthcare
Being a member of the MGMA and the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) has allowed Joe to keep his finger on the medical field’s pulse and enhance it.
The Medical Group Management Association offers resources like peer-to-peer and mentor-to-peer support systems to advance healthcare. The HFMA provides practical tools, education, analyses, and guidance to help the United States healthcare system overcome its many challenges.
Joe Spann has contributed to the medical field via presentations and published articles. In 2014, he presented the MGMA with “Market Forecast: How will payer mix and relationships change in the wake of ACA?” He also presented “Credentialing 101” to Oklahoma State University Medical Residents. Additionally, he wrote “Credentialing and Liability in the New World of ACOs, CINs, and other Managed Care Networks,” which was most recently reprinted in 2017.
Pushing Forward
Inspiring dedication and igniting excellence takes work. Any CEO can order the company to do its best. However, a servant leader, and an expert passionate about their work, can create an example for his team to follow. This balance of service and expertise continues to earn the company numerous accolades. With Joe Spann standing alongside his fellow Fifth Avenue Healthcare Services team members, the Fifth Avenue family can push forward with no end in sight.
More information about Fifth Avenue Healthcare Services
Fifth Avenue Healthcare Services is a NCQA Credentialing Accredited family of healthcare companies. Sister companies include 5ACVO (credentialing and primary source verification specialists), Fifth Avenue Agency (MPLI and medical malpractice insurance specialists), and Primoris Credentialing Network (credentialing and provider enrollment specialists with 54+ health plan and network provider enrollment options).
Fifth Avenue Healthcare Services initially published this article here. For more information on Fifth Avenue Healthcare Services, please visit FifthAvenueHealthcareService.com or Contact Us.
