Natalie Thurston, RN, MBA, CPHQ is a Senior Health Care Consultant at Aledo Consulting. Natalie is a reimbursement professional with two decades of experience. Natalie has a unique perspective on reimbursement matters, having worked for both a large national health plan and for a national provider of molecular diagnostic laboratory services. For a large national insurance company, she managed a team of clinicians responsible for guiding members to services in a National Transplant Network, and implementing a novel clinical program of nurse navigation for patients with complex clinical situations. During this time, Natalie developed a comprehensive understanding of insurance operations from claim submission through appeals and payment.
More recently, Natalie utilized her knowledge of the reimbursement practices of payer organizations with a provider of a molecular diagnostic test. She has experience obtaining positive coverage decisions for products from both commercial and government payer organizations. She has had success in obtaining positive coverage decisions with large national payers as well as smaller regional payers and numerous state Medicaid programs. Natalie received a Bachelor’s in Nursing (BSN) from Indiana University – Indianapolis and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Indiana University Southeast. She also maintains a certification in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ).