Industry’s Thomas-Payne Loses Battle with Cancer

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.