By A.J. Kaufman, Managing Editor
On Feb. 17, State of Franklin Healthcare Associates (SOFHA) announced the appointment of Amanda Clear as interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO). In a press release, SOFHA noted that the “leadership changes mark an important step in SOFHA’s continued commitment to delivering high-quality, patient centered care and strengthening operational excellence.”
Clear had served as Chief Operating Officer since 2023 for SOFHA, which currently has more than 1,350 employees.
SOFHA’s mission continues to be to focus on patient care and how we can help our community,” she told the Business Journal during a recent interview. “That’s our overall goal. We, frankly, are excited about the future and what we can offer to the community.”
Clear brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in healthcare and has been an integral part of SOFHA’ success for 22 years. She began with SOFHA in revenue cycle management, and in 2015, she transitioned to work with Chief Medical Officer David Moulton on the clinical side.
“Working with Dr. Moulton, we built a lot of systems to help patients receive the care they need,” Clear explained, noting clinical pharmacy was added to SOFHA.
In her new CEO position, she says she is “expanding our focus, seeking opportunities to collaborate with the community to improve patient care and patient access. Ensuring we’re available when patients need us is at the core of what our SOFHA providers and ancillary departments strive for every day.”
She and the leadership team are enthusiastic about the innovative AI pilots SOFHA is implementing, all designed to streamline processes and enhance patient care.
Last year, SOFHA transitioned to a different patient management system to handle billing.
“The transition provided an opportunity to implement bot technology to handle routine processes, such as applying payments in the system,” Clear explained to the Business Journal.
The bots run overnight to process payments, freeing billing staff to focus on higher-level tasks like ensuring the accuracy of patient bills.
SOFHA is also piloting new AI technology to streamline prior authorizations for patient testing, initially focusing on advanced imaging services.
“The system identifies the order in our electronic medical record and immediately verifies with the patient’s insurance whether prior authorization is required,” Clear said. “It then accesses the payer’s website to provide medical necessity details and retrieves the authorization number for that test.”
This process will streamline scheduling, reduce delays, and help avoid bottlenecks. As of late February, Clear anticipated the system would be fully functional within the next six to eight weeks.
“The implementation is swift compared to similar products,” Clear added. “By training AI to handle these cumbersome operational tasks, we can shift our focus back to what matter most – delivering timely, high-quality patient care, which is at the heart of SOFHA’s mission.”
As the new interim COO, Sherri Hutchins is an experienced operations leader who will oversee day-to-day operations, drive strategic initiatives and ensure coordination across SOFHA’s clinics and services.
