OUR TEAM
Stuart C. McWhorter: Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO
Mr. McWhorter provides the vision and strategic direction for MRA. Mr. McWhorter is also Partner of Franklin, TN-based Clayton Associates, an investment management company primarily focused on venture capital in the healthcare services industry.
Prior to forming MRA,
Mr. McWhorter was a founding member of OrthoLink Physicians Corporation where he
served as Vice President of Managed Care and later as Vice President of
Acquisitions. OrthoLink was later acquired by United Surgical Partners
(Nasdaq:USPI). Prior to OrthoLink/United Surgical Partners, Mr. McWhorter served
in various operating roles with Brookwood Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama,
a Tenet-owned hospital system.
Mr. McWhorter is also Chairman for privately held Censis Technologies, a member of the Board of Haven Behavioral Healthcare, a member of the Board of FirstBank of Tennessee, the largest community bank in Tennessee and a Board Member of Belmont University.
Mr. McWhorter received his Masters in Health Administration from The University of Alabama-Birmingham and B.S. in Management from Clemson University.
Paul Cleckner: President & COO
Mr. Cleckner is responsible for leading the day-to-day operations of the company, on-going strategy and direction.
Prior to MRA, Mr. Cleckner held executive leadership positions across the healthcare and technology industry including SVP of Professional Services for Emdeon Business Services, the Global CIO for Deloitte & Touché’s audit practice and Executive Vice President for Standard & Poor’s.
Mr. Cleckner has a law degree from the University of Tennessee and undergraduate degrees in both History and Political Science from Trevecca Nazarene University.
Bill Anderson: Executive VP & Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Anderson has extensive public accounting and healthcare industry experience. He currently serves as the company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer where he is responsible for overseeing the Accounting and Finance functions.
Prior to joining MRA, Mr. Anderson was employed by HealthMark Partners, Inc., for nine years where he last served in the capacity of SVP & Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Anderson also served in other various management capacities in the healthcare industry as well as over seven years in the healthcare practice at Arthur Andersen LLP where he last held the title of Audit Manager.
Mr. Anderson is a Certified Public Accountant and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Mr. Anderson holds a Masters of Accountancy degree from the University of Tennessee and Bachelors of Accountancy degree from the University of Mississippi, where he graduated cum laude.
Dwayne Keller: Executive VP of Operations and Process Improvement
Mr. Keller has 25 years of leadership experience in the implementation of Lean Healthcare in various hospital systems and healthcare settings, and Lean Manufacturing in major manufacturing corporations throughout the USA. Mr. Keller is leading the rapid implementation of Lean in MRA’s revenue cycle operations.
Prior to MRA, as COO of Healthcare Performance Partners (HPP), he coached hospital executives regarding how to lead their organizations to a Lean Culture, resulting in significantly improved outcomes. Mr. Keller also held the positions of Plant Manager, Director of Operations over multiple facilities, and Executive Lean Coach in multiple business units with Alcoa. As an Industrial Engineer and Production Manager, he introduced Just-In-Time and Teamwork into two of Michelin Tire Corporation’s largest manufacturing operations. He also solved numerous technical problems at DuPont as a Mechanical Engineer.
Mr. Keller received an MBA from Clemson University and holds both a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Bucknell University.
Michael Ford: Executive VP of Product Management and Development
Mr. Ford leads MRA in the development of new products and services and the refinement of existing services for improved customer impact. He has been with MRA since the early years of the company, starting in 2000, during which he led operations through years of substantial growth. In addition, Mr. Ford has taken an active role in sales and account management activities and led the creation and transformation of MRA’s implementation processes.
Prior to joining MRA, he clerked with the Honorable Judge Thomas A. Higgins in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. Mr. Ford is a healthcare attorney actively involved with the American Bar Association's Health Law Section, AHLA and the HFMA. His background includes corporate law, workers’ compensation, insurance law and bodily injury claims/suits.
Mr. Ford received his Juris Doctorate degree from Samford University's Cumberland School of Law and a BS in Business Administration from Samford University in Birmingham.
Cliff Whitmore: CIO & Executive VP of Technology Services
Mr. Whitmore leads MRA in the development of technology and information systems to support the company’s growth and customer service strategy.
Prior to joining MRA, he served as CIO for Webmedx, Inc., a clinical technology and services firm. He also served as CEO for DataPlus, a revenue cycle data analytics and revenue underpayment software company. He was founder and President of CenterPoint Services, a healthcare-focused technology and management-consulting firm. Preceding these ventures he served as VP of Consulting Services for CGI, a global technology and business outsourcing company. Mr. Whitmore gained extensive experience in the technology consulting, software development, and systems integration domain with Deloitte and Touché Consulting Group and software company Interleaf, Inc.
Mr. Whitmore received his Masters in Business Administration from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He also earned an Electrical Engineering degree from Texas A&M University.
Andrew Rittler: Executive VP, Business and Client Development
Mr. Rittler has nearly 30 years of healthcare experience building and growing field and corporate-based new business and client operations. Most recently he provided accelerated growth consulting services to early market healthcare technology and service companies. Prior to this, as the Chief Operating Office responsible for business strategy, development and client operations, he led the rapid growth and sale of Health IT Services Group, a Nashville based specialty-specific electronic medical record company.
In 1984, Mr. Rittlter started his career at Amherst Associates, a healthcare business analytics consulting and technology company that was purchased by HBO & Company (HBOC). After transitioning into the hospital information system arena, Andrew delivered significant new business sales and high customer retention through progressive field and corporate positions with HBOC, McKesson, and Nashville-based Healthcase Management Systems (HMS). In addition, he helped launch Informatics Corporations of America (ICA).
Mr. Rittler has earned a BS in Accounting and an MBA in Operations Management at Benedictine University, Lisle, IL.
