Turning Frontline Wisdom into Smarter Care
DEANNA D STRAUP
Co-owner of Healorium Technologies and CEO & Owner of Pro Practice Solutions
Healorium Technologies | Pro Practice Solutions
Turning Frontline Wisdom into Smarter Care
DEANNA D STRAUP
Co-owner of Healorium Technologies and CEO & Owner of Pro Practice Solutions
Healorium Technologies | Pro Practice Solutions
Healthcare is full of complex systems, but its strongest leaders are often the ones who began by understanding the work at its most human level. Deanna D. Straup is one of those leaders whose journey started at the front desk, learning firsthand how clarity, kindness, and disciplined operations shape every patient interaction. Those early lessons became the backbone of how she now guides teams, strengthens workflows, and builds solutions that truly support people. Over the years, she has worked across Pro Practice Solutions and Healorium, helping shape practical, futureready tools like CodePilot and developing compliancefocused AI now being prepared for partners including Blackwood Admin, WoundX Mobile, and SS Vascular. At the heart of everything she builds is the same belief she started with: real progress begins with understanding the people doing the work. TradeFlock spoke with Deanna to explore the journey behind that impact.
Having started at the front desk and now leading Pro Practice Solutions, what has shaped your leadership style the most?
Honestly, when I look back, the front desk at Kensington Chiropractic shaped almost everything about who I am as a leader today. It taught me quickly that people do not want complicated wording. They want clarity, kindness, and someone who truly sees them. Watching the full patient experience from that close showed me how to lead with compassion while staying firm on operational discipline. I still carry that same “roll up your sleeves and fix it” energy as CEO of Pro Practice Solutions. I never believed in sitting far away from the action because if something is not working, I am right beside my team, figuring it out and tightening the workflow so it supports everyone better. Those early years grounded me and shaped me into someone who listens first and acts second. I will never forget what it feels like to learn from the ground floor. A recent experience with Blackwood Admin reminded me of that beginning. I spent the past two months training their billing department on standards and the right use of modifiers, and their hunger for knowledge felt like a reflection of my early days when I wanted to master every part of this field. Their numbers are rising, denials are dropping, and their confidence is shining through. Watching a team take what you teach and use it to grow in real, measurable ways remains one of the most rewarding parts of leadership for me. I am genuinely proud of every single person there.
You lead both Healorium Technologies and Pro Practice Solutions. How do you shift your leadership style between the two?
I switch the way someone shifts between calm study music and something upbeat. I am still the same person, and the rhythm changes completely. Healorium brings out the builder in me with quick decisions, constant learning, and a very “fail fast but learn faster” mindset. Everything moves through data, testing, and improvement. Pro Practice Solutions asks for a different part of me because I step into strategy mode, focusing on training, relationship building, and helping practices become stronger as a team. Some days I am deep in the details of our AI tool, CodePilot, and later that same day, I am verifying claims, training an entire team of billers and coders, or handling credentialing for a new doctor. I move between those worlds by shifting the rhythm, not the values behind it.
After two surgeries, how did you return to work and support your team’s wellness while still driving growth?
Coming back after two surgeries honestly felt like trying to restart a computer with five percent battery left. I had to slow down, which is not something I naturally do, and it became a moment where I had to practice what I tell others. I needed to be honest about my limits and choose sustainability over the constant grind. This shift changed our entire culture because I encouraged my team to set their own limits too, and we created a space where people could check in before things reached a breaking point. We stopped pushing through everything silently. We treat personal challenges the same way we treat operational bottlenecks. We talk, we plan, and we fix the issue together. When health comes first, real growth follows naturally. We cannot support anyone if we are not taking care of ourselves, and once we made that a priority, the results began to show in the way we worked, communicated, and supported each other
What is your approach to data security and privacy, especially within your billing and coding operations?
There are no alternatives when it comes to data security. I have no tolerance for any “we will deal with it later” mindset because HIPAA has always been more than a guideline to me. It is a principle that shapes the way we build systems and make decisions. Healorium operates with a security-first architecture that includes strict access controls, complete audit trails, and continuous compliance monitoring. Every part of our billing and coding process is designed to minimize risk. Our team trains with the seriousness of preparing for something like a cybersecurity Olympics, because providers trust us with information that deeply matters to their patients. Integrity is one of my strongest principles as Director of Operations. I follow compliance standards without compromise, and I walk away from any agreement that requires behavior outside insurance rules or industry regulations. Protecting providers and their patients comes before everything else
If you had to predict one breakthrough that will reshape health tech, what would it be, and how are you preparing for it?
We are entering a time when AI will connect clinical care, documentation, coding, and revenue cycle management into a single connected experience. I believe the next breakthrough will be platforms that bring all of this together so teams can work with cleaner data, smoother workflows, and far less stress. I am preparing for the future by helping build systems that are flexible and ready to evolve, because technology should move with the industry rather than fight change. My goal is to create tools that help healthcare workers reach their full potential, not bury them under more tasks. Two projects bring this vision to life. Healorium is building an adaptive claim-scrubbing AI that adjusts to payer and provider needs, and Pro Practice Solutions is developing an AI focused on medical necessity and compliance for skin grafts. This tool aims to reduce audit risk and prevent CMS clawbacks in a meaningful way. I recently partnered with WoundX Mobile in Maryland and continue collaborating with SS Vascular in San Diego. Both serve patients with chronic wounds and are perfect partners for piloting this compliance-focused AI. The goal is a smarter, audit-ready documentation workflow that protects providers and strengthens their clinical justification. A big transformation is coming, and the teams that stay curious, open, and ready to adapt will lead that change.
"I move between those worlds by shifting the rhythm, not the values behind it."
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