Our Team
Richard Meli, MD
Chairman
Richard Meli MD is a board certified anesthesiologist, co-founder & CEO of Healthcare Performance Companies and a prominent entrepreneur. In 1998, he co-founded Anesco North Broward (ANB), one of the largest, most respected physician owned anesthesiology groups in South Florida. Since then, under Dr. Meli’s leadership, the company has grown to include Healthcare Performance Strategies, an anesthesia/O.R. consulting company, and Healthcare Performance-Sleep, a sleep lab management company. Dr. Meli was formerly the Chief of Anesthesiology for North Ridge Medical Center in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He has been involved in numerous mergers and acquisitions within healthcare and other industries. As CEO of Industrial Environmental Coatings Corporation, an environmentally friendly coatings manufacturer, Dr. Meli lead the growth of the company as well as its acquisition by Akzo Nobel (AKZA), the largest paint and coatings company in the world. He has a BS from Florida State University, and received his MD degree from the University of Miami.
Paul Kolbert, MD
President – Billing Operations
Paul Kolbert, MD is board certified in both anesthesiology and internal medicine, co-founder of Healthcare Performance Companies and oversees Solutions for Medical Business. He served as Attending Anesthesiologist for North Ridge Medical Center and was Medical Director of Northridge Surgery Center. Dr. Kolbert also served as Assistant Professor of Anesthesia and Attending Anesthesiologist at University Hospital at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Dr. Kolbert has been on staff at all hospitals operated by the North Broward Hospital District, now Broward Health. He graduated with his bachelor’s degree from Hobart College in Geneva, N.Y. as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and received his medical education from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, N.Y. Dr. Kolbert received his residency training in Internal Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and in Anesthesiology at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City.
Anthony F. Altmann
Senior Strategic Business Advisor
Anthony F. Altmann has been a successful executive in various facets of business and finance for more than 20 years. Tony has built successful companies in various industries and has led public offerings and major growth initiatives for small and large firms. Tony was recently president of a $1 Billion+ division of FPL Group. He has been responsible for over $500 million of project financings, partnerships and joint ventures in his varied senior executive roles, including a leadership position with a Fortune 500 company. In addition, Tony has spent almost ten years assisting medical businesses in practice growth efforts. Tony runs a turn-around management firm that works with companies in diverse industries. His management company has completed 15 successful transactions (including numerous financings ranging from $1 million to $100 million). Tony earned his MBA from Columbia University in Finance and his BA in Economics from Boston College.
Jason Bates
Vice President of Business Development
Jason Bates has over 15 years of management and medical experience. Besides his entrepreneurial workings in the private sector with various marketing and real estate ventures, he has worked with large medical companies such as Eli Lilly, Thermo Fisher/Athena Diagnostics, and Doctors Choice. At Athena, Jason oversaw a National Endocrinology sales force responsible for the initial launch and promotion of esoteric genetic testing. While the Chief Operations Officer at Doctors Choice, Jason was responsible for the oversight of all sales and marketing efforts as well as day to day activities of the corporation. His main focus was an innovative remotely attended sleep study model, although he also oversaw the implementation of individual physician office clinical laboratories. Jason is now responsible for researching and analyzing the Healthcare Performance Companies’ targeted markets, including potential customers, competitors, technologies as well as developing strategic and tactical plans to grow the business.
Fara Marino, RN, MS, MBA HCM
Director of Operations
Fara Marino, RN, MS, MBA HCM manages physicians and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA) relations for Anesco North Broward (ANB). With the company since 2001, Fara is responsible for the day-to-day operations, including recruitment and retention of physicians and CRNAs, salary and compensation, business development, and various contract negotiations. A committed and proactive management professional, Fara builds positive team dynamics, facilitates profitable management techniques, and develops innovative workflow processes that optimize resources and maximize revenues. Prior to joining Healthcare Performance Companies, Fara was the Executive Director of Surgical Services for Broward Health, formerly known as the North Broward Hospital District, Fort Lauderdale, FL. At Broward Health, she held several managerial positions, most recently Executive Director where she had fiscal responsibility for a $50 million division. Fara earned her BSN and MS in nursing from Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL and her MBA HCM from the University of Phoenix in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Elfriede Lynch-Willson
Corporate Marketing Director
Elfriede Lynch-Willson has over 20 years of marketing and business management experience. She is the Founder and COO of Frieda Marketing, Inc., a marketing & PR firm based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. She has worked with numerous large & small companies across industries, including medical, manufacturing, energy, construction, technology and services sectors. Elfriede handles Healthcare Performance Companies’ marketing strategy and implementation, including web, PR, social media, advertising, tradeshows, and white papers. She has a proven history of brand building success, including most recently for Enviroline®, a coatings and linings company now owned by AkzoNobel, the largest paint and coatings company in the world. Elfriede earned her BBA in International Finance & Marketing from the University of Miami, Coral Gables.
Sandy Peters
Director, Billing & Collection Operations
Sandy Peters has managed business operations in the health care arena for over 20 years. She began her career as Manager of a Physicians’ Billing department for a non-profit organization that was a multi-specialty provider at South Miami Hospital. She has since spent the majority of her career in senior administrative positions for large corporate health care organizations; these have included University of Miami and Sheridan Healthcorp. Sandy joined Solutions for Medical Business as Director of Billing and Collection Operations in 2002 and has been responsible for the hiring, management of staff, productivity, patient accounts, benefit verification, electronic/paper billing, insurance reimbursement follow-up, cash posting and all medical records. Over 65,000 claims are sent out under her supervision. Sandy’s expertise lies in the analysis of processes and procedures, to develop high levels of staff productivity, increase cash flow and management of A/R. She also works on negotiating managed care contracts and is an active member of Florida Anesthesia Administrators Association.
Frank Denoun
Financial Controller
Frank Denoun has over 20 years of professional experience in accounting and finance including 6 years as a financial analyst at Citicorp and 8 years at OMI Medical Imaging, a regional diagnostic imaging company with a network of 17 free standing centers (located in south Florida) and $21 million in annual revenues. Frank has managed finance, accounting and payroll and his responsibilities have included month-end closings, reporting, analysis and budgeting. He has a strong focus on profitability analysis, cash flow management and projection of financial results. During his career he has promoted efficiencies in accounting processes through standardization and automation and successfully established critical financial controls throughout departments and companies. Frank earned a Masters of Accounting degree and Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Florida International University.
Marina C. DeMaio
HR and Benefits Lead
Marina C. DeMaio manages key HR and personnel functions to maximize compliance and motivation of the employee base. Ms. DeMaio is a highly effective Human Resources professional with over twenty years of experience in banking, retail, tourism, sales organizations, healthcare, and the sports and entertainment industry. For the past fourteen years Marina has served as a top human resources executive and partner to senior level management. Her career span’s all strategy and tactical aspects of HR management. Marina is a graduate of The College of New Jersey with a degree in Business. She serves on the Advisory Board for the Florida International University School of Business, Human Resources Masters Program.
