Stephanie Farnia, MPH

Before joining Nimitt, Stephanie served as the inaugural Director of Gene Therapy and Cellular Immunotherapy for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), providing strategic leadership and direction on cell and gene therapies to the BCBS companies. Previously, Stephanie held policy leadership positions at the National Marrow Donor Program/Be The Match and the American Society of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT). She thrives on sorting out the unique reimbursement issues that come with medical innovation and is well-known for fostering collaboration across diverse stakeholder groups to advance health policy.

First Loves:

• Analyzing Medicare’s New Technology Add-on Payment decision-making
• All things coverage, commercial payer, and specialty networks
• The intersection of excess loss insurance and high-cost therapies

Points of Pride:

• Middle-school volleyball coach
• University of Minnesota School of Public Health’s Alumni Innovator Award (2021)
• Spreading the gospel of fried cheese curds

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Valerie A. Rinkle, MPA, CHRI

Valerie has held positions with the federal government agencies with responsibility/oversight for Medicare and Medicaid as well as reimbursement and revenue cycle leadership positions for health systems.  This background helps Nimitt’s clients to establish processes that help ensure optimal financial performance. She thrives on imparting the knowledge with a heavy dose of know-how to help clients survive and thrive in the challenging health care financing environment.

First Loves

• Explaining how HIPAA and CMS requirements impact hospital billing, coding, and payment and how to make hospital processes more efficient and effective for patient access to needed services.
• Helping clients figure out solutions based on a strong understanding of CMS requirements
• Predicting how CMS rules and regulations will influence and impact the health care marketplace and ecosystem.

Points of Pride

• “Walking encyclopedia” of CMS regulations and reimbursement/policy change history
• Will win any Jeopardy category on hospital operations and regulations.
• Dedicated non-profit leader bringing needed services to her community

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