Leadership Team

Michael Johnson

MBA, MGM, Chief Executive Officer

Michael Johnson is the Chief Executive Officer of PracticeMax, Inc.  He joined PracticeMax, Inc., in September 2013.

During his tenure with the company, Michael held key strategic positions facilitating company advancements in many areas.  Prior to being appointed to CEO, Michael held the position of Vice President, Global Strategy, where he had executive oversight of several divisions and expanded the organization beyond U.S. boarders.  He operated as the Managing Director for an offshore joint venture company and assisted in the launch of a wholly-owned air ambulance company that serves patients in all corners of the world.  Before this role, Michael held the position of Vice President, Research, for an acquired satisfaction research and employee engagement services organization. Here he orchestrated many successes including 500% growth in revenue in three years and obtained an exclusive CMS CAHPS accreditation.  Prior to this, Michael held the position of Vice President, Special Projects, supporting a variety of consolidation initiatives involving multiple acquisitions. He also had oversight of the PracticeMax Marketing Services department, providing marketing automation, web services, design services and online reputation management to healthcare providers.

Before joining PracticeMax, Michael served as the CEO of Satori, Inc. from April of 2012 to September of 2013, effectively operating in the hotel renovation industry across the nation.  Michael was appointed as the Executive Director of the Utah Hotel and Lodging Association in April 2009 and was accomplished in government affairs, education and industry advancements.

Michael has served on many Executive Committees and Boards of Directors and has received a variety of recognition during his career.  Namely, he was listed by the Utah Business Magazine as a 40 under Forty Award Winner, was the winner of the Fastest Growing State Association for three consecutive years from the International Association of Hotel Association Executives, and served as a member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Utah Disaster Housing Task Force.

Michael holds a Masters in Global Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management, graduating with honors, and an MBA from Indiana University.  He earned his Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the University of Utah.

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Angel Rivera

MBA, Vice President, Client Advocacy

Bio coming soon.

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Stephanie Vannevel

MS, Vice President, Client Advocacy

Stephanie Vannevel is the Vice President of Client Advocacy for PracticeMax, Inc.  She has over 30 years’ experience in healthcare and joined the company in January 2021.

Stephanie started her career as a nurse in 1990, and since has attained remarkable accomplishments.

Prior to joining PracticeMax, Stephanie held positions such as the Vice President of Revenue Cycle for Mercy Hospital. She was the Privacy and Security Officer and Health Information Management/Revenue Cycle/Registration Director at Henry County Health Center, and later with Mahaska Health Partnership.  Stephanie spent several years as an Adjunct Professor and Advisor at Indian Hills Community College teaching coursework such as Leadership and Organization, Health Information E-Systems, Pharmaceutical Applications and the Essentials of Health Records.

Stephanie has led multiple initiatives and received numerous awards in the healthcare industry through various entities and associations. She has been the President of the Iowa Health Information Management Association, received the MAP Award for outstanding achievements in revenue cycle excellence from the Healthcare Financial Management Association, named to Industry Board and America’s Best In Medicine by the American Health Council, and participated in the development of the new Revenue Integrity Specialist credential in conjunction with various organizations nationwide.

Stephanie holds a Master of Science in Behavioral Health Science from Capella University, a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Buena Vista University, and Associate of Applied Science in Health Information Management and an Associate of Applied Science in Biotechnology.  Additionally, she is a Certified Healthcare Financial Professional (CHFP), a Certified Revenue Cycle Representative (CRCR), a Certified HIPAA Privacy Expert (CHPE) and a Fellow of the American Health Information Management Association (FAHIMA).

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Lance Withers

Vice President, Sales

Lance Withers is the Vice President of Sales at PracticeMax, Inc. and has over 30 years’ experience as a strategic sales leader in a variety of healthcare related industries.

Prior to joining PracticeMax, Lance performed as an Independent Sales Enablement Consultant engaging with various healthcare startups and RCM organizations enabling them to build new sales infrastructures, create sales strategies and grow their businesses.  Prior to this he held several sales leadership roles within the healthcare arena such as Vice President, Client Executive with UnitedHealth Group/Optum, Vice President, Business Development with Janus Healthcare, Director of Business Development, Xerox/ACS (Patient Accounting Services Center), and District Sales Manager for McKesson.

Lance’s expertise combines information technology and financial services for large physician groups (25 – 3,000 providers) and large hospital and health systems (300+ beds).  This includes
revenue cycle management and outsourcing, accounts receivable management, revenue cycle technology solutions, patient engagement, market strategy, population health management, care coordination / care management, chronic care management, and patient analytics.

He has been successful at exceeding revenue targets by designing best practice processes, strategic sales engagement plans and positioning value propositions for client solutions.

Lance attended the University of Arkansas and completed the Exercising Leadership Program with Harvard University. He is affiliated with the American Medical Group (AMGA) / Anceta Collaborative, the Texas Association for Healthcare Financial Administration (TAHFA), the American Association of HealthCare Administrative Management (AAHAM) and has been a member and speaker for the HealthCare Financial Management Association (HFMA).

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David Landen

MBA, Vice President, Operations

David Landen brings more than 20 years of healthcare management experience to PracticeMax, where he is responsible for revenue cycle management processes in Texas and Louisiana including coding, charge entry, billing, and collections. His strong analytical background, with a focus on driving performance improvements makes him well qualified to provide PracticeMax clients with key performance measures and other actionable data to help them maximize collections for new and existing practices.

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Alix Skalicky

M.Ed, CCS-P, Vice President, Operations

Alix is a certified coding expert with over 20 years experience in the health care industry. She is responsible for the oversight and administration of PracticeMax coding services and has significant expertise in CPT, HCPCS, ICD-9 and ICD-10 professional coding. Alix and her staff provide PracticeMax clients with optimal, compliant and appropriate provider coding. Alix’s areas of expertise also include systems administration, AR management and regulatory compliance.

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Tim Karhu

CHBME, Vice President, Contracting and Credentialing

With more than 28 years of experience in health care billing and management, Tim is responsible for the support and oversight of PracticeMax Payer Contracting and Provider Credentialing and Enrollment. He is the former founder and president of Adds Up, a medical billing firm acquired by PracticeMax in 2007. Tim’s comprehensive experience and expertise include physician billing, AR management and coding; merger and acquisition integration; managed care and vendor negotiation and contracting; and practice management functions such as credentialing, governance, decision making, hospital and payer negotiation and contracting, human resources, marketing and customer service.

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Bret Miller

Ed.D, Vice President, Research Operations

Dr. Bret Miller joined PracticeMax in 2016 and currently functions as the Vice President of Research.

Early in his career Dr. Miller served as a corporate analyst for Apollo Group assisting in the discovery of online student satisfaction and engagement. Later, several key executives from Apollo Group left to assume leadership of Grand Canyon University. Bret was recruited to join them and lead their research efforts in better understanding student loyalty and persistence in an online environment, segueing to his dissertation theme of smartphones and their impact on engagement and learning. His research emphases primarily focus on end-to-end customer experience and preference analyses, equating to a perfect fit in leading our patient/resident satisfaction research efforts.

Bret operates under a ‘change management’ paradigm and loves to find hidden meaning behind daily experiences. He was elected as the student-body representative for the Doctor of Education program at University of Liverpool, UK where he worked with senior leadership to better understand the student experience. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Master’s degree in Business Administration and a Doctorate in Higher Education Administration. He’s also a private pilot.

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