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From a birds-eye view, Natalia Mosquera’s job entails identifying fresh methods to enhance the company’s operational model. Her expertise, experience, and unwavering drive for success have resulted in remarkable business expansion and scale for Vohra Wound Physicians. While she is charged with identifying alternative solutions for ineffective methodologies, her broader philosophy of constantly striving for improvement has enabled her organization to flourish and achieve substantial growth.
In her role as senior vice president (SVP) of operations, she aims to “engineer the healthcare system,” drawing on her background in industrial engineering, extensive experience as an innovator, and expertise in Six Sigma methodologies.
“In a manufacturing plant, every step of the process is predictable, with quality controls in place and everything is measurable. However, in healthcare, processes can be less tangible,” Mosquera says. Nonetheless, she stresses that “a process is a process if it is well-defined, even if it may not be as tangible as those found in manufacturing plants. Once a process is clear it can be measured and subsequently, improved.”
She continues, “We have automated everything that can be automated, and we have implemented controls for every hand off, even if it’s from one department to another. Therefore, if something goes wrong, I quickly become aware of the issue. We don’t have to wait for significant issues to surface months down the line. Instead, we detect issues promptly, resolve them, and move on swiftly.”
“My priority is to ensure that the entire team can grow and succeed together.”
Natalia Mosquera
Mosquera’s philosophy of swift detection and correction of issues enabled her to make an immediate impact when she started consulting for the company in 2013. She led the implementation of a new billing system and enhanced the telemedicine platform, as well as creating a certification program for nurses. These achievements paved the way for greater leadership responsibilities, as she assumed the position of director of strategic partnerships for seven years, followed by vice president for two years.
Presently, her focus remains on implementing novel systems, divisions, programs, certifications, and processes to enhance the efficiency of the nation’s leading physician management group. She played a key role in reducing costs by setting up an offshore operation in India and initiated a surgical dressings division a couple of years ago and a skin substitute division last year for patients requiring advanced care.
She not only focuses on driving continuous and scalable improvements at Vohra and within the industry, but also prides herself on being a leader who prioritizes the development of the people she leads.
“I don’t like to push people down, I like to push people up,” she says. “I prefer a collaborative leadership approach and actively seek out areas of weakness within the team. If I am able to offer support to improve those weaknesses, I will gladly do so. However, if I am not equipped to help, I will delegate the task to someone else on the team who is better suited. My priority is to ensure that the entire team can grow and succeed together.”
Mosquera’s passion for innovation runs deep, stemming from her upbringing in Colombia. Her family dinner conversations typically centered around her father’s businesses, discussing the industry landscape and what they needed to do to succeed. “I was raised in an environment where someone always inspired me to pursue innovation and entrepreneurship,” she recalls. “I wish I could achieve even a fraction of what my dad accomplished.”
“Identify a simple and achievable process that can lead to immediate results, enabling people to experience a quick win. This success will motivate them to pursue more ambitious goals.”
Natalie Mosquera
Her father is an ambitious civil engineer and entrepreneur who established a construction company, as well as a business involved in planting and distributing flowers to the United States, and a mountain bike design, manufacturing, and distribution company. However, these ventures were not without difficulties.
In Colombia, when people began getting kidnapped while riding their bikes, customers became hesitant to purchase them from his company, leading him to file for bankruptcy. Nevertheless, Mosquera recalls that her father never lost his determination and always pursued the next opportunity.
Her childhood experiences left a lasting impression on Natalia Mosquera, and she carried them with her as she pursued an engineering degree at Florida International University, which she attended after winning a study abroad contest. After graduating, she worked as a management systems engineer for Jackson Health Systems, where she pioneered the use of Six Sigma and Lean Thinking techniques throughout the Public Health Trust.
Before joining Vohra, Natalia held dual roles as vice president of revenue cycle management and vice president of client services at Avisena, a medical billing and practice management software solutions company, where she was instrumental in strategic decisions, investor relations, and managing corporate initiatives across all business units.
When the SVP reflects on her decades-long career, she says becoming more efficient starts with the small wins. “When you try to engineer the entire company, that’s a massive undertaking, especially to get buy-in,” Mosquera says. “Identify a simple and achievable process that can lead to immediate results, enabling people to experience a quick win. This success will motivate them to pursue more ambitious goals.”
Those looking to follow in her footsteps should aim high. “Set high expectations and keep fighting until you get it,” she advises.
