In this empowering episode of Healthy Careers, host Maddie Traylor speaks with Jennifer Monroe, Director of Patient Financial Services at Knoxville Orthopaedic Clinic, about her bold career pivot—from teaching elementary school to leading a high-performance billing and revenue cycle team in healthcare.

Jennifer opens up about starting her own billing service business, how she scaled and led teams over nearly three decades, and what it takes to thrive in today’s healthcare revenue cycle management (RCM) space. She challenges the notion that formal education defines success, making a strong case for adaptability, resilience, and real-world experience as the true drivers of career growth—especially in healthcare administration.

Whether you're a healthcare recruiter, revenue cycle manager, medical biller, or simply considering a career pivot in healthcare, this episode is packed with practical insights and encouragement.

Key Takeaways:

• Why it’s never too late to change your career trajectory

• The evolution of revenue cycle management in modern practices

• How to manage and scale a successful healthcare billing service

• The value of experience over academic background

• Leadership lessons in managing large, diverse teams

• Balancing technology, metrics, and the human touch in RCM

• The future of in-house vs outsourced revenue cycle solutions

• Mindset shifts required for sustainable growth in healthcare

Episode Highlights:

00:41 Meet Jennifer Monroe
01:03 A Career Pivot from Education to Healthcare
04:13 Building and Scaling a Billing Business
07:51 Navigating Challenges and Major Career Pivots
10:52 Balancing Work, Family, and Continued Learning
14:04 Leadership in Revenue Cycle Management
17:55 Metrics vs. Human Touch in Patient Financial Services
22:19 In-House vs. Outsourced Billing: Pros and Cons
24:07 Adapting to Change in the Evolving Healthcare Landscape
26:23 The Complex World of Revenue Cycle Operations
28:07 Entrepreneurship in Healthcare Admin
34:08 Final Words of Advice for Professionals at Any Stage

Keywords:

Healthcare career pivot,
Medical billing career path,
Jennifer Monroe Knoxville Orthopaedic,
Healthcare leadership podcast,
Revenue cycle management podcast,
Billing and coding leadership,
Healthcare financial services,
Women in healthcare administration,
Healthcare entrepreneurship,
Practice management podcast,
Career change into healthcare,
In-house vs outsourced billing healthcare,
Healthcare recruiter insights,
RCM technology trends,
Non-traditional healthcare career paths,Healthcare recruiting agency,

Flat fee healthcare recruiter,

Nurse practitioner and physician assistant recruiter,

Surgeon and orthopedic staffing agency,

Medical office and billing staff recruitment,

Connect with Jennifer Monroe:

LinkedIn: Jennifer Monroe
Visit Knoxville Orthopaedic Clinic