Rich Earnest Email & Phone Number

Marion, In, Us

Often businesses get excited when they hear how much money the government spends on goods and services. They may register in SAM and start looking for bidding opportunities and submit proposals on the first one they find without learning anything about the agency or making any type of contact with key stakeholders. In other cases, they are sold on the idea that all they need is a GSA Schedule contract, and the money will start streaming into their bank account. This approach often leads to two years without many sales and a possible canceling of their GSA contract. Areas that are missing from a comprehensive strategy include finding out who buys what they are selling and how their products or services are purchased. They also fail to verify if their current pricing is competitive. Understanding these vital details instead of taking a “see what sticks” approach can save a lot of time and money by avoiding critical mistakes. Earnest Consulting Group eliminates the guess work of knowing where to start and can provide a clear path to a successful contract award.

Mc Lean, Virginia, Us

Potomac Health Associates, Inc. (PHA) was founded in 1992 to provide federal contract consulting services to healthcare organizations, and to help them negotiate the complex, competitive maze of the federal government. Multiple businesses that are more than capable of providing the government with excellent goods or services just choose not to because winning business from and doing business with the federal government can be a daunting task. PHA gives their clients the bench strength to be competitive with their proposal and quotation submissions as well as providing ongoing support if they are successful in winning government business. I specifically focus on helping clients with their business development strategy by conducting market research on specific government agencies, existing contracts, and possible competitors. I also assist in providing a sales strategy specifically tailored to the type of product or service that the client wants to offer to the federal government. Supporting as well as provide turnkey services in request for proposal (RFP) responses are more of my strengths.

Louisville, Kentucky, Us

Served as a Strategic Consultant for HUMANA as a subject matter expert for 34 contracted VA Community Based Outpatient Clinics across 14 states. Acted as a liaison between the 18 VA Medical Centers and HUMANA in the subjects of Business Development, Information Technology, Contract Compliance, and Environment of Care.-Provided leadership for the integration of 2 acquired VA Outpatient Clinic contracting organizations into HUMANA by recognizing best practices of both including subjects such as operations management, facilities management, IT, capitation invoicing, and equipment purchases. Successful integration was completed by July of 2013.-Collaborated with the business development team for government statement of work review, site selection, floor plan development, required clinic square footage assessment, required clinic equipment assessment and costs with entire scope of the project. Provided leadership in securing a total of 8 new contract opportunities totaling over $123M-Provided leadership for the development of new VA Outpatient Clinics including site selection, floor plan creation and review, statement of work creation and review for general contractors request for proposal, and project management of construction after the contract was awarded.-Collaborated with HUMANA's IT department to act as a liaison between VA IT personnel, HUMANA IT personnel and HUMANA IT's vendors that work on specific projects.-Provided leadership to successfully open 6 new locations and renovate 6 existing facilities on schedule in 120 days or less with full services and capabilities.

A&R Marketing exists to provide market research to firms that actively pursue government solicitations in the areas of health care and marketing. A&R also provides consulting in special projects related to operations management, facilities management, business development, and executive leadership.

Ambulatory Care Solutions (ACS) was established to provide primary care and related services to VA Medical Centers. -Co-Founded ACS with 2 other partners in 2004. -Directly responsible for all IT and facility initiatives company-wide which included opening new locations, developing and executing a preventative maintenance plan for all locations including an online help-desk ticket system, procuring all furnishings and equipment, and developing all policies and procedures regarding the IT and facilities including a company-wide disaster recovery plan.-Acted as Leader of the business development team that submitted 9 successful proposals to the Department of Veterans Affairs totaling over $75M over an 8 year period. Responsibilities on the business development team included property and site location analysis, floor plan formulation, graphic exhibit development, final proofreading and editing and final production for submission. -Provided leadership for creating and implementing a new billing/invoicing system based on the business rules set forth for the VA Outpatient Clinics by the Veterans Health Administration. Received a highly favorable rating for our processes and practices by the VA’s Officer of the Inspector General. -Collaborated in implementing Studer based leadership and behavior principles as well as performance based evaluations which resulted in an overall company customer satisfaction score of 4.78 on a 1 to 5 scale, an approximate score of 4 on a 1-5 scale on our Employee Opinion Survey in late 2012 and a turnover of 9% in 2012 company-wide.-Provided leadership for a small business start-up to grow its revenue by 600% between 2004 and 2012 and return an average 10% profit between 2010 and 2012.-As a partner in the organization, provided leadership in guiding ACS as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Humana Government Business by working through the acquisition process in late 2012 and the integration into a new organization in 2013.

Ambucare Clinic was established to provide quality general and occupational medical care including treatment of minor emergencies in an affordable convenient manner to the citizens of the Marion and Grant County area. Acted as the Administrative Director reporting to the Owner/Executive Director with responsibility for directing the sales/marketing and customer service strategies including analyzing customer satisfaction data. Over time, responsibilities increased to include provider credentialing insurance companies. Was also responsible for information technology strategy, implementation, compliance and ongoing support.-Worked to implement a sales and sales management plan for Occupational Health services to business and industry in the Grant County area. -Provided leadership in developing and executing a marketing strategy to increase patient visit volume for urgent and primary care patients. -Implemented a new system for provider credentialing and was the leader in converting credentialing practices to the CAQH platform.-Scheduled provider staff for the clinic never closing for lack of mandated coverage. -Developed and executed a comprehensive strategy addressing areas such as EHR selection and implementation, network architecture, workstation configuration, server configuration, HIPAA compliance and information security.

Acted as a liason between Hiler Industries and its customers to maintain current business, initiate new business initiatives, and solve customer problems.

Bachelor Of Science (Bs), Industrial Technology

Mba, Health Care Administration Focus

Bs, Business Information Systems