Our Leadership
We are an attorney and IT engineer-owned full revenue cycle management organization, comprising medical billing, collections, and legal services teams dedicated to protecting and maximizing your practice's revenue.
Thomas J. Force, Esq.
Founder & President
Thomas J. Force is an attorney with significant experience in the healthcare and insurance industries. Mr. Force's background as a former U.S. Marine, Wall Street insurance litigator, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and CEO of a revenue cycle company showcases a diverse and extensive career.
His expertise in healthcare revenue collection techniques, appeal strategies, and healthcare compliance makes him a valuable resource in the field. Additionally, his role on the Advisory Board at Hunter Business School, involvement with medical billing and coding students, and frequent speaking engagements at medical associations and healthcare organizations highlight his commitment to education and sharing knowledge in the industry.
Mr. Force focuses on a range of topics, including Effective Out-of-Network Work Flow, Successful Appeals Drafting, The Dangers of Waiving Patient Cost Share Responsibility, The No Surprises Act, and The Federal Anti-Kickback, Stark, False Claims Act, and HIPAA. His focus is protecting and defending the healthcare provider, and assisting with the generation of revenue for medical practices.
Executive Leadership
Michele Force
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Michele Force has over 30 years of experience as a Senior Executive in Operations, Sales, and Customer Service for a West-Coast technology company with a focus on the insurance industry. She has worked with some of the largest insurance organizations in the country, developing extensive experience in technology infrastructure and techniques to increase client profitability. As Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Force manages day-to-day activities and client interface while spearheading technology initiatives within The Patriot Group. Her dedication to maximizing revenue for clients and her expertise in the insurance industry have helped The Patriot Group build lasting relationships with its clients.
Farooq Waheed
Chief Technology Officer
A dedicated entrepreneur, Farooq has actively founded and participated in the start-up of several successful health-related organizations, including Patriot International Group, the entity that handles aged receivable collection for The Patriot Group. Prior to engaging in his entrepreneurial endeavors, Farooq served as a senior software developer with Applied Sciences Group, where he designed, developed, and maintained highly scalable software and web applications. Farooq, along with his brother Rauf Waheed, has been integral in developing proprietary software to promote a more efficient aged receivable collection process.
Rauf Waheed
Chief Strategy Officer
Rauf is a serial entrepreneur with substantial experience founding, launching, and scaling businesses primarily rooted in the healthcare sector. Relying on nearly 15 years of experience serving in high-level strategy and planning roles with Fortune 500 companies such as IBM and CenturyLink, Rauf brings an analytical expertise to The Patriot Group that far exceeds that of its competitors. This skillset, coupled with his background in software engineering, enabled Rauf and his brother Farooq to develop and integrate software designed to promote increased and more efficient aged receivables collection.
Robert T. Neuner, Esq.
General Counsel
An attorney licensed in New York, New Jersey, and Arizona, Robert has spent the vast majority of his professional career in the healthcare sector since graduating from Brooklyn Law School. Prior to joining The Patriot Group, Robert simultaneously served as General Counsel, Director of Mergers & Acquisitions, and interim Chief Financial Officer for a medical management services firm, playing an integral role in that organization's exponential growth while ensuring operations ran efficiently and compliantly. Robert defends against audits and recoupments, provides guidance on carrier policies and applicable laws, appeals unpaid or underpaid claims, and represents clients in surprise billing disputes.
Operations & Billing Team
Our operations and billing team brings decades of combined experience in revenue cycle management, medical coding, collections, and compliance support.
Susan O'Connor-Van Winckel
Vice President of Administration
With more than a decade of experience, Susan is integral to the success of The Patriot Group and its clients. A professional coder certified by the AAPC, and having past entrepreneurial experience, Susan certainly understands the importance of maintaining an efficient and profitable revenue cycle. Aside from being primarily responsible for account implementation and general account management, Susan regularly steps up to address the most complex revenue cycle issues, namely those faced by new clients whose past billing company left their account in shambles.
Meredith Monteleone
Vice President of Operations
Meredith has worked in the healthcare industry for the past 25 years, having managed all areas of the revenue cycle. Her expertise runs the full gamut of revenue cycle matters, including serving in- and out-of-network parties, professional and facility clients, and clients involved in an abundance of practice areas including vascular, orthopedic, ENT, general practice, chiropractic, and surgical. With her extensive experience, which also includes teaching classes at Hunter Business School since 2004, Meredith is responsible for managing accounts, supervising staff, and analyzing accounts to ensure clients' revenue is maximized.
Jennifer Maniaci
Vice President of Coding
Jennifer is a professional coder certified by the AAPC with over 25 years of experience in medical office settings. She is responsible for overseeing coding issues and managing the most complex accounts — namely those concerning highly-specialized out-of-network surgeons who often rely upon unlisted codes. Jennifer regularly secures GAP exceptions for clients' patients, allowing in-network benefits for out-of-network services, and negotiates lucrative single case agreements to ensure clients are afforded substantial compensation for their highly-skilled services. Jennifer takes great pride in advocating for patients against payors.
Thomas J. Force, Jr.
Vice President of Patient Accounts
A graduate of Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Civil Economic Thought and Leadership, Thomas quickly integrated into The Patriot Group after graduating and has brought a fresh perspective to company strategies and protocols, particularly with regard to patient collections. As Vice President of Patient Accounts, Thomas heads the company's Patient Accounts Department and is responsible for overseeing staff and ensuring that patients have a clear understanding of their financial obligations, are treated with respect, and ultimately make payments to further boost clients' revenue.
Work With Our Team
Contact us today to discuss how Patriot Group's experienced team can help protect your revenue, defend your practice, and strengthen your compliance.