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MGMA 2026 Summit Podcast Playlist
Explore the best of the MGMA 2026 Summit through this curated podcast playlist. Whether you're joining live or catching up on-demand, this audio collection brings you timely insights, expert-led sessions, and real conversations from our premier online event. The Summit isn’t just about content — it’s about connection. Hear how leaders across the industry are navigating challenges, innovating care, and building stronger practices. Plus, discover new ways to engage with peers and collaborate on what matters most in medical practice leadership.
This episode is brought to you by Greenway Health. Health care practices today need more than incremental improvements. They need a smarter, more connected way to work. That's why Greenway created Nover, the first natively AI enabled platform designed to reinvent the legacy EHR. Built with AI at its core, Nover helps unify clinical, financial, and patient engagement workflows, reducing administrative burden and helping providers focus more time on patient care.
Colleen Luckett:From ambient documentation to intelligent agents, Nover brings purposeful automation to the entire ambulatory workflow. To learn more about Greenway Health and Nover, visit greenwayhealth.com.
Daniel Williams:Well, hi, everyone. I'm Daniel Williams, senior editor at MGMA and host of the MGMA Podcast Network. We are back with another MGMA member spotlight podcast, and we're gonna be spotlighting Melinda Mastel. She is an MGMA member. She's also gonna be a presenter at our upcoming MGMA Leaders Conference.
Daniel Williams:We're really excited to take a deeper dive into that. Just to give a little more background about Melinda, she has an MBA and MS and then certifications as her FHFMA, CMPE, and PMP. I'm impressed already. And Belinda is going to be one of the presenters in our upcoming session. It's titled it's a resource group meetup.
Daniel Williams:That's a really neat thing that we're exploring in our leaders conference and our other face to face events, really getting the voices of our attendees out there. This one that Melinda's gonna be working on is early career as leaders in health care. With all that said, Melinda, welcome to the show.
Melinda Mastel:Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. You and I were having some fun just chatting right before we went live. You were sharing some other information about your background and helping me understand and get to know you a little bit better. But why don't we turn that towards our listeners right now? Share a little bit about your background.
Daniel Williams:I I provided some of that, continuing education, certifications, that sort of thing, but share us a little bit what you'd like us to know about Melinda Mastel.
Melinda Mastel:Yeah. Absolutely. First, I have to say I think you have one of the coolest jobs out there. So I I think I've been a podcaster. It has to be up there.
Melinda Mastel:That's cool. Yeah. Absolutely. So, yeah, I kind of consider myself a lifelong learner. I've embraced that term.
Melinda Mastel:I think that's so such an important mindset really to have as we go through things. So that comes across in kind of the formal education like you highlighted, but also just having that curiosity and perspective in everyday life. Probably have a little bit of a nontraditional way of coming into the health care field. I've always really been drawn to health care. I think it's such a human field.
Melinda Mastel:There's a people component to it that you just don't get in any other industry, so that has always really drawn me. I remember, I think it was in middle school when I first heard of, like, the term public health, and it was described as kind of this intersection of people and society and being able to affect change on a broader level. And so while I've always been interested in that ability to really change many people's lives was really interesting to me too. And so from there on, I just started exploring different, more healthcare centered careers. But I was someone who, if I could have majored in 20 things in college, I absolutely would have.
Melinda Mastel:Like, I was interested in forensic science and public policy and epidemiology side, and I was really looking at medical school, even law school. So I just like learning about everything. And I I think there's so many components that surround health care and are really interesting in that. If I could have 20 careers too, I probably would try one each year. But all of these different interests, I think there's this common thread of being able to help others and really impact lives and improve lives.
Melinda Mastel:And just through a winding road that led me into health care administration, I started volunteering at my local children's hospital during college, and I did that for seven years actually through COVID. So had, I think, over seven hundred hours logged in with that organization, and that was probably my first behind the scenes experience with health care and became acquainted with the idea of patient experience and really our ability as administrators to affect that. And I think we think of public health and research and medicine as having that human component, but really administration does too. And so I've really enjoyed being able to learn more about the business side of health care through my career so far.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. So I had a couple of follow-up questions. One, you could you said you could have gone in a lot of different directions
Melinda Mastel:Yes.
Daniel Williams:In your, formal schooling, so to speak. What was your major? What'd you end up majoring in?
Melinda Mastel:Yeah. So I ended up just majoring actually in international business and health care administration. So I ended up going for business. It was kind of on the, you know, save money and make sure you have a practical landing pad plan, but also did premed and science on the side. And, actually, always wanted to go back to school for science.
Melinda Mastel:So I ended up getting my my MBA in health care administration. Early on, I was in a dual bachelor's, master's program, but always wanted to go back. And so that's the MS. I actually have two more MS's, but one is nutrition because that is probably my my passion field, if you wanna call it that.
Daniel Williams:Okay.
Melinda Mastel:And preventive health is really important to me. And then another in MIS business analytics, which really gets into kind of this data side of health care, of financial analysis, and, you know, interesting topics like AI and things that I think are just transforming the landscape. I have this penchant for innovative topics and and trends, so I think that program really spoke to me from that aspect, but recently finished both of those.
Daniel Williams:Wow. Okay. I have to follow-up then. What is your number one nutrition tip that you would, share with our listeners?
Melinda Mastel:I think just start small. Like, make small changes. I'm all about the first thing when I first got into this as a a kid was just ingredient substitutions
Daniel Williams:Okay.
Melinda Mastel:And just becoming familiarized with your food. So I'm not a strict calorie counter at all. That does not work for me. I'm I don't weigh myself. But really focusing on whole foods, substituting things, and just, like, enjoying the food.
Melinda Mastel:I think we I I love listening to anything about, like, mindset shifts. I think that's so interesting and, like, living intentionally. And I think a big thing you find with sustainability is not being deprivational. So, like, go out and try the new vegetable or learn to cook or, like, find what's fun for you and make it fun. So that's what's worked for me, and that's how I really enjoy food.
Daniel Williams:Oh, I love that. Okay. Great. So when I was looking at your background in the write up, for some reason, maybe I just missed it. Where what are you doing right now?
Daniel Williams:I mean, in addition to going to school quite a bit and then also presenting here at MGMA. What what's your role right now in health care?
Melinda Mastel:Absolutely. So I'm in a financial oriented role. So my official title is financial adviser, but previously a financial analyst, senior financial analyst. Actually, one of the the things later that I was hoping to touch on, but it works in now is just how I enjoy kind of expanding my role beyond the traditional job description. And that's a tip I would have for early careers as well is I'm in a finance role, and I enjoy the finance and the analytics.
Melinda Mastel:But I've also found ways to learn how it links to operations or to get more involved in the HR side, the comp side, reporting. So I think that there's ways to kind of expand that beyond just traditional finance. Because when a lot of people hear, oh, you're in health care finance, they're thinking reports, accounting, financial statements, you know, penny pinching, and not thinking about being able to tell the story, behind things and being a strategist, which I like to think of my role more as that.
Daniel Williams:Oh, that's awesome. So are you independently placed? Are you a consultant? Are you with an organization?
Melinda Mastel:Yeah. So I'm with the Academic Medical Center. So Medical College of Wisconsin, which is the academic partner and physician practice partner of the Froedter Theta Care Health System in Southeastern Wisconsin. Okay. And now broadly more broadly across Wisconsin after the ThetaCare merger.
Daniel Williams:Wow. Wow. Okay. You've got a lot on your plate these days. So we're gonna get a lot into this whole side of early careerist that, the idea behind it, maybe some of the trends, some advice to those early careerist.
Daniel Williams:But, do you still consider yourself an early careerist? Do you fall into what your definition is of early careerist?
Melinda Mastel:Yeah. It's a great question. I thought MGMA was kind of roughly defining it as seven years or fewer Okay. In your career. I'm at about eight, so was right on that cusp.
Melinda Mastel:But it's kind of this interesting, you know, being in between two career phases of transitioning from early careerist, being able to look back at those lessons, and then kind of entering this mid career phase. So I would consider myself right on that edge.
Daniel Williams:Okay. Let's talk about that then. You there are a lot of pathways right now. There are a lot of pathways when you're a person's in school, when they get out of school. You have chosen a track where because you are, you know, as you described, a continuous learner.
Daniel Williams:How has that helped you? I mean, it obviously, it focuses you. It, it's more certifications and letters after the name and all those things so that can help getting hired. But beyond those kind of extrinsic, reasons, what how has it helped you in your career by getting these additional degrees and certifications?
Melinda Mastel:Yeah. Absolutely. I think one is it gives you a perspective beyond your specific job. So no matter what role you're in, no matter what functional area, there's aspects of that that are covered in these certifications that you may not specialize in. So I think it really helps to give you a little bit more of a broad big picture view.
Melinda Mastel:For me coming from academic medicine and being there my entire career, briefly interned at a nonprofit, but otherwise, it's it's been academic, not for profit experience for me. It's given me a different lens on private practices or larger health systems and those types of structures. And then I would also say just versatility. Like, I think, looking at skill building, when we talk about being a transferable professional and just having more to add in your role, there's nothing like being able to say, I've mastered this body of knowledge in some of these different areas, and you start seeing connection, and you start seeing how you can apply that to different things. I've had a couple interim roles where there's been vacancies, and I've been able to help out the organization outside of strictly finance.
Melinda Mastel:And I think that the certifications contribute to your ability to just ramp up your learning curve a little bit faster. And, so I would say versatility is probably number one.
Daniel Williams:Okay. Now I have to ask this question because we hear a lot about burnout, work life balance. So how are you balancing this? How are you working in this academic setting? I'm sure that there's a lot of, pressure and demand there, but then also going to school, getting these certifications and degrees.
Daniel Williams:How do you balance this?
Melinda Mastel:Yeah. Great question. This is actually really interesting and something I'll be touching on in my session as we were looking back on lessons learned, me and my coleaders. One was that I realized I really had experienced early career burnout. Within just a few years of starting my career, I was wanting to be active.
Melinda Mastel:There's kind of this feeling of wanting to put in your dues and show that you're committed, working hard. If you're like me, you see a gap and you wanna fill the gap, you see a problem, you wanna fix the problem, even if that means twelve hour days, or if it means you're not looking after, you know, your your own personal interests and things like that. I was definitely overextending myself a little bit and volunteering for a lot of things, saying yes to a lot of things. And looking back, that built a lot of skills. I mean, I got a lot of opportunities by by just saying yes that I think were important, But there's also this fine line there between looking out for your well-being.
Melinda Mastel:And so I've reflected on that a lot. I think COVID, for all of the negative things it brought, did bring this realignment to really thinking about our health and well-being, because you just zoom out, and you're thinking about life and your legacy. Right? And, like, what you really wanna spend time on, and you're you're kind of looking at this path and where is it going. So for me, that kind of helped me to reflect on that and reprioritize well-being.
Melinda Mastel:So something too I I would recommend to early careerists is to be watching out for that and really helping to build your resiliency and your character in other ways and investing your hobbies. Like, the past couple years have been so great for me as I I've some hobbies from childhood. I've tried some new things I always wanted to try and said, I'm gonna be a beginner and go out there and just have fun with it. I don't need to be great at something. I did some solo travel.
Melinda Mastel:So it's been so renewing for me to kind of focus on those areas too outside of just work and and your job. So, yeah, I think it's this balance. Right? And there are some periods where we might be much more intense in our career. And then there are some phases where we've, you know, kind of got that unlocked, and we can focus in other ways.
Melinda Mastel:But for me, just prioritizing on investing in my interests and in my own health has been really great, and I'm in a good place now where I I think I'm kind of managing to juggle everything.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. Did you go anywhere cool in your solo travels? Did you do anything neat?
Melinda Mastel:Yeah. So I I gone with a group actually to Israel last spring, and then Iceland was my most recent one. So that was breathtaking and highly recommend that trip. It's such a different destination because it's not built up at all, and you just get to enjoy nature. Nature.
Melinda Mastel:And it's, like, a very introspective destination. So I'm looking forward to doing some more next year. That's my main savings goal is experience the world. So
Daniel Williams:You're living your best life. That is for sure.
Melinda Mastel:I'm trying.
Daniel Williams:That is so cool. Well, one of the things so you said you're around eight years into your career. One of the things I found most interesting in reading about you was that you've already served as a mentor at times. Talk about that mentorship program, what that meant to you, what that has meant to you, and then how you've given back to others as well.
Melinda Mastel:Yeah. Absolutely. So I've been involved in a few different formal programs, and then I think I just really have a mindset for this informally too. I think it's so important. Sometimes we look at ourselves as early careerists and think we don't have anything to contribute, and that's so wrong.
Melinda Mastel:Yeah. I really think peer mentorship is this kind of beautiful concept. Any mentorship relationship I've been in, I've been a formal mentee. I've been a formal mentor, and we end up learning from each other. That's that's one of the main takeaways is no matter what stage of career your career that you're in, no matter what your area is, we all have something to teach each other.
Melinda Mastel:And even if you're an early careerist and just starting out, you can lend time to students or people that are, you know, trying to learn about the field. So I think that's so important to do, and I've really enjoyed my experiences. Sometimes it's even just noticing a more junior employee and, like, taking them under your wing and saying, hey. I'm here. If you have any questions, you know, go out to coffee.
Melinda Mastel:Like, it doesn't have to be a major commitment. I think sometimes people kind of bristle at, need to do biweekly meetings for a year, and it seems like that's a big thing. And maybe sometimes it is that, but maybe sometimes it's just, you know, being a listening ear and making sure people know that your door is open.
Daniel Williams:I love that. That is so cool. So in the remaining time, let's talk a little bit about this session. Tell our listeners about it. What should they expect if they're gonna be attending or if they're thinking about attending?
Melinda Mastel:Yeah. Absolutely. So I have two coleaders, who are both experienced health care administrators as well, and we're going to do kind of a combined, discussion format. You get to learn from your peers, other early careerists, whether that's just graduating from school, perhaps some students, all the way to those of us that are transitioning into this mid career phase. So we'll be talking about different pathways and career options within health care, our lessons learned, and how you can apply those, and I'm really just trying to make sure that people have some valuable takeaways, know that they're not alone with challenges they may be facing, hopefully get some inspiration, and come away with some new things on in their careers going forward and hopefully kind of renew that that spark for health care that a lot of us had coming straight out of school.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. So you said you have two copresenters. Are y'all each taking a track, or how are you balancing that on what you may lead or either of your copresenters may lead?
Melinda Mastel:Yeah. So I think we all found topics that we personally resonated with. So a few of us might be taking, talking about certification or talking about impostor syndrome or different things like that. And then lessons learned, we'll definitely all be splitting that up because I think there's just some of these nuggets as you reflect on your career that we each wanted to share. And we hope it'll be really interactive too.
Melinda Mastel:So a combination of us really presenting and then hearing from people, whether that's more career topics, leadership topics, what's on their mind, and what they wanna talk to each other about.
Daniel Williams:Okay. So what about early careerists then? What are some of the biggest challenges you see? I mean, you've lived it, but then you've mentored people. You've been mentored.
Daniel Williams:So what are you seeing as some common challenges for early careerists?
Melinda Mastel:Yeah. I think this is a fun one to reflect on. I think just the changing work environment. It's things that are affecting us all, but you think about coming out of school and starting your career with more hybrid and remote work. I've heard a lot about how do I build relationships?
Melinda Mastel:How do I network when we have employees scattered all over? I came from an organization that was in person every day, and COVID, you know, flipped on a dime. And now there's so much hybrid and remote work. So how can we be intentional about building relationships and showing that commitment to work in that environment? I think AI and tech is a really interesting one.
Melinda Mastel:Some of us maybe have functional areas that are kind of tangential to IT. Like, finance and IT definitely work together, but I'm not an IT professional. But I've seen more and more data analytics skills being asked for of operational leaders, financial leaders. So I think early career careerists are needing to embrace or at least have this foundational understanding of that. So I'm seeing more about how can I use AI, how can I understand AI and tech even if it's not my my focus in my career?
Melinda Mastel:And then really this mental health concept that we went back to, I've heard so much, and I've had so many great conversations with my colleagues about comparison. And Right. There's that quote out there, comparison is the thief of joy, and career comparison is no exclusion. And something I hear from early careerists and, you know, kind of wish I brace myself for more is just expecting that paths are gonna look different. And and sometimes, I think there's this idea that I'm going to work hard, and I'm going to make it to a certain level, and I'm just gonna keep progressing.
Melinda Mastel:And you realize people make different career decisions for different reasons. It's not all about climbing a ladder or checking certain boxes. And so I would say just this idea of thinking about what you want your career to look like and how you want to improve health care and reflecting on that and really building your career around something that's more lasting and purpose driven rather than going in with this preset notion out of school that, you know, my goal is to be CFO or VP or, you know, whatever that may be for them and just thinking about it more organically and being open to different opportunities.
Daniel Williams:Alright. Well, Melinda Mastel, thank you for joining us on the MGMA member spotlight podcast.
Melinda Mastel:It's been a pleasure. Thanks so much.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. Well, that is gonna do it for this episode of the podcast. Again, I'm gonna provide some information, some direct links to Melinda Mastel's session at the leaders conference where she will be co presenting in a workshop, a real interactive session on early careerist. So until then, thank you all for being podcast listeners.