ALBUQUERQUE--Lisa Thomas-Payne, a top HME reimbursement specialist who retired to race sports cars, died Jan. 10 of cancer at her home in Albuquerque. She was 46.
Although Thomas-Payne left the industry in 2000, she left it better than she found it, longtime industry stakeholders said. Through her consulting business, Medical Reimbursement Systems, she challenged, cajoled and coaxed providers to do better, to submit clean claims, to be knowledgeable about billing.
Her colorful manner and straight talk combined with deep knowledge of the industry frequently propelled her onto the pages of HomeCare magazine, and she was a well known headliner at industry conferences.
"Industry icon is what I called her," said Cara Bachenheimer, vice president of government relations for Elyria, Ohio-based Invacare, who often teamed up with Thomas-Payne to present seminars at Medtrade and other venues.
"There have always been a handful of true educators in our industry," said consultant Shelly Prial. "At the top of the list was Lisa Thomas-Payne ... Her lectures were always filled with brilliant ideas and ways to improve one's business ... She provided excellent goals that all of us should try to reach."
"Lisa was a legend in the industry," said Miriam Lieber of Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based Lieber Consulting. "Outspoken and vocal, Lisa was a popular industry consultant who commanded quite a following."
HME was a natural route for a girl who grew up in the business. Her mother, Cecelia Thomas, recalled that "Lisa and health care first came together in 1976 when her dad [Bill] and I started a small DME company in southern California."
It was a family business, and Thomas-Payne soon was soon learning about mobility aids, wheelchairs and the customers who used them. In 1983, the Thomases sold their company, and Thomas-Payne joined National Medical Homecare. Eventually, she broke away and started Medical Reimbursement Systems.
"Lisa would speak to any group who needed assistance to submit 'clean claims,'" said Cecelia Thomas. "She was famous for her shoot-from-the-hip sayings."
She was also famous for her attention to detail. Cecelia Thomas remembers walking into her daughter's office one day and finding her "bent over a set of proposed regulations. She had a ruler in one hand, eyeglasses on her nose and [a] drafting light over the document. She was going through the regs word by word to make sure she understood exactly what was intended and the stated goal of the reg."
She was, Cecelia Thomas added, "focused and fearless in defense of her clients and the industry."
Schuyler Hoss, president and principal consultant for Northwest Healthcare Management in Vancouver, Wash., called Thomas-Payne "a force of nature. She could walk into any room and, with her energy and enthusiasm, change the very atmosphere," he said. "She was so smart, so articulate and so much fun that working with her was always a pleasure ... Lisa has been, and always will be, one of a kind. Our industry is better because of her and [is] just not the same now that she is gone."
In the 1990s, Thomas-Payne discovered sports car racing. She won numerous honors with her Porsche #20 and, in 2000, retired from the HME industry to pursue that passion.
Always energetic and enthusiastic, Thomas-Payne nevertheless had serious health issues reaching back to 1992, when she was diagnosed with cancer. There was a recurrence in 1997 and another in 2005.
In her final days, her mother said, Thomas-Payne was surrounded by those she loved. "I arrived the last day, so in the end, I was allowed to be there at the beginning and the end," Cecelia Thomas said.
A celebration of Thomas-Payne's life will be held at a later
date. Donations may be sent in her memory to the New Mexico Cancer
Center Foundation, 4901 Lange Ave., NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109; or
Casa Angelica, 5629 Isleta Blvd. SW, Albuquerque, NM
87105.
