Our Team
 (817) 371-7336
Vital Signs Physician Resources | (817) 371-7336

Jim Edwardson

CMPE Owner and Healthcare Consultant

Jim is a Certified Medical Practice Executive through the Medical Group Management Association. He attended college at Emporia State University in Kansas and later earned certification in healthcare administration from Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. He has been certified by MGMA since 1992.

With more than 38 years of experience in group practice management, healthcare administration, and a large variety of specialties, Jim provides consultation in several areas of the medical field. These areas include accounts receivable management and cleanup, ancillary revenue opportunities, credentialing, managed care contracting, practice management, medical billing, crisis management (pandemic, hurricanes), interim high-level management, and practice analysis.

Lonnie Faulkner

CFO, CPA

Lonnie is the Chief Financial Officer for VSPR and oversees financial consulting and accounting services for VSPR clients. He has been employed at VSPR since 2008. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington where he earned a BBA in accounting and an MBA in finance.

He has over 35 years of accounting experience ranging from public accounting "Big 4" to serving as a CFO or Controller for small to mid-sized, $15M - $50M, companies in the healthcare, service, and manufacturing industries. Lonnie also served as a Lecturer at the University of Texas at Arlington where he taught principal, intermediate, and managerial accounting. He is a Certified Public Accountant and is licensed to practice in the state of Texas.

Garry W. Bright

MBA, CMPE

Garry is a skillful operation and financial executive with 28+ years of healthcare administration experience in organizations with annual revenues from $2 million to $30 million. His healthcare specialty experience includes nephrology, internal medicine, ophthalmology, cardiology, infectious diseases, urology, neonatology, pain management, chronic dialysis centers, and more

He obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees with a concentration in hospital/healthcare administration from the University of Louisiana Monroe. He also received his certifications as a Certified Home Care and Hospice Executive from the National Association for Home Care and his Certified Medical Practice Executive from the Medical Group Management Association.  

Garry has the ability to analyze data, interpret it, and effectively communicate the results to all levels of staff and principals in the organization.

Garry's Specialty Experience:

  • Nephrology - 11 years
  • Internal Medicine - 11 years
  • Ophthalmology - 5 years
  • Cardiology - 3 years
  • Infectious Disease - 2 years
  • Urology - 1 year
  • Neonatology - 3 years
  • Pain Management - 1 year
  • Chronic Dialysis Centers - 5 years
  • Ambulatory Surgery Centers - 6 years

Theresa Ward

CPC, Billing Supervisor

Theresa is a professional coder, certified by the American Academy of Professional Coders. With more than 28 years of experience in the medical field as a medical practice manager, she has a special focus on coding and billing. Theresa began her medical career as a receptionist in a large, multi-specialty clinic and then moved on to manage a dermatology office for 10 years.

Theresa has vast experience in these specialties: Urology, pain management, Ophthalmology, Internal Medicine, Physical Therapy, Occupational Health, Primary Care, General Surgery, Endocrinology, Neurology, Oncology, Home Visits, Infectious Disease, Infusion Therapy, Assisted Living, General and Cosmetic Dermatology (10 years), and OBGYN (11 years). She has been a member of the VSPR team since 2015, furthering her experience and knowledge in the complete medical revenue cycle.

Nhu N. Ha

Controller

Nhu has more than 22 years of combined accounting and healthcare experience at the staff and management accounting levels as well as over six years as a pharmacy technician. Her career has been focused on small- to mid-size medical practices with revenues in the $1M - $20M range.

Nhu is a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington and has a bachelor’s degree in accounting. She began her healthcare accounting career as a staff accountant and progressed quickly to the senior accountant level at a large single-specialty group practice in DFW. She joined VSPR in April 2016 as our controller. Nhu has been a full-cycle healthcare accountant for over 10 years along with serving as VSPR’s controller. She also provides accounting and financial consulting to new and current VSPR clients as needed.

Nina Linehan

Controller

Nina has over 26 years of experience in healthcare accounting as well as seven years in the Air Freight Industry. Nina is a graduate of the University of Phoenix and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting. She began her healthcare career working as the Administrative Assistant for a Radiology Group while finishing up her bachelor’s degree at night. She quickly moved up to the AP Payroll/HR Manager and, moved into the Staff Accountants position. She joined Vital Signs Physician Resources (VSPR) in November 2017 as the Assistant Controller.

Her VSPR clients range from providing full financial accounting in entering payables, invoicing clients, bank reconciling, and producing P&L’s. She also does monthly reporting and payroll processing for another client. Nina’s software experience includes Microsoft Office, ADP, Paychex, and Rippling payroll systems, Peachtree, QuickBooks, Great Plains Wolfe Pack, and Cyma Accounting software.

Jill De Franceschi

Healthcare Consultant

Jill has been in the medical field for 26 years. She learned administrative duties of the medical office while attending nursing school and working as front office manager for an ENT group practice. As a nurse, Jill worked in several specialties, including gastroenterology, dermatology, and neurology.

She graduated from American Intercontinental University in 2016 and has a degree in healthcare management. Jill joined the VSPR team in 2017 as a project manager. With 26 years of experience under her belt, she has worked closely with several clients to train staff members and improve efficiency by implementing new processes.

Darla Shelley

Credentialing

Darla has over 25 years of experience in the healthcare field, including experience in the clinical practice setting as an office manager as well as support, implementation, training, and software resource development with a healthcare practice management software company.

Darla has credentialing experiences with carriers on both the practice side and the software side in multiple states for Medicaid, Medicare, CAQH, and major carriers as well as large and small hospital affiliations.

Susanne Vaughan

Project Coordinator

Susanne is a valued project coordinator at VSPR, with over 28 years of medical experience and industry knowledge. As a first stepping stone into the industry, Susanne worked as a phlebotomist and medical assistant, and then transitioned into medical management. Our team values her expertise and her ample ability to collaborate, find solutions, and manage all facets of billing and revenue cycle management. For the last 22 years, Susanne’s primary background was in one of the most effective techniques for Skin Cancer, Mohs Dermatology. With specialties in Internal medicine, ENT, Family Practice, Orthopedic Surgery, General Surgery, and more, we are confident in Susanne’s ability to catapult your practice into the future of medicine!”

Outside the office, Susanne is family-focused. Her passions include baseball and kayak fishing. Best of all, she is an animal lover through and through. With 4 fur babies, a few goats, and we can’t forget the chickens!

Kellye Taylor

Accounts Receivable Specialist and Certified Coder

Kellye Taylor is a valued member of our team. As a professional coder, certified by the American Academy of Professional Coders, she brings over twenty years of experience to our team. In 2020, Kellye was crucial in growing the practice of a new mental health physician with her assistance in setting up electronic claims, EFT’s, ERAs, and training their billing staff. Kellye empowers us with the value she adds to VSPR. Her vast experience includes GI, Pediatrics, Behavioral Health, and Internal Medicine. She has extensive experience with Athena, ECW, R2, EPIC, Healthpac, and ICA Notes.

Outside of VSPR, Kellye is passionate about the creative development of children and teaches dance to 4 & 5-year-olds!

Carolyn Y. Miller

Credentialing Specialist and Image

Carolyn grew up in Emporia, Kansas. She attended Emporia State University and has been with VSPR since May of 2020.

Carolyn has over 30 years of experience in the medical field, 20 years of experience as a practice manager, and an owner of a medical billing company that bills for Surgical Assistants. Her experience spans several specialties including Family Practice, Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, and Urology.

As a practice manager Carolyn has had extensive experience with revenue cycle, accounts payable; human resources; EEOC compliance; OSHA, HIPAA, Medicare compliance, and managed care contracts. As a consultant, she performed medical practice assessments to provide optimal efficiency, productivity, and cost savings by review of managed care and vendor contracts, evaluation of staffing needs, internal controls, policies & procedures, as well as providing interim management services for various practices.

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