A Talk with Trula Breuninger

Trula Breuninger was eager to talk about her job and the great things she expects for the future of Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics, when I met her last week. Since July, Breuninger has been head of the popular health-care provider and working to steer it out of financial uncertainty. “I’ve done a lot of this type of work, you know? That’s what I do; I help organizations through issues.”

In the past, Breuninger has helped state, local, and tribal governments, universities, and integrated health-care organizations, among others, get through difficult times. The Neighborhood Clinics (SBNC) had previously brought in a consultant, who presented them with options, and as Breuninger explained, “The main ones were: reduce cost, increase productivity, and increase revenue.” Which sounds logical, but the devil, as usual, is in the details.

Breuninger explained that the clinics will have to “monitor and improve operation efficiencies, including the way that we bill Medi-Cal, for example, which is a major source of revenue. We have to have certain number of encounters to bill what they call the PPS rate (Prospective Payment System rate) so we’ve been improving that system.”