From Fire Hose to Field Guide — A Conversation with MGMA's Cristy Good on Turning Questions into Solutions

On this episode of the MGMA Insights Podcast, host and senior editor Daniel Williams sits down with longtime MGMA leader and senior editor Cristy Good for a wide-ranging conversation about MGMA’s 100th anniversary, the evolution of Ask an Advisor, and how members can better navigate MGMA’s growing library of tools, playbooks, and communities.

Drawing on her background in lab science, practice management, and hospital operations, Good shares how her real-world experience shapes the resources MGMA builds — and how members can use them to solve everyday operational challenges while also prioritizing professional growth and well-being.

Episode Takeaways

• Good’s career path — from laboratory test development to physician practices and hospitals — informs her hands-on approach to supporting MGMA members with practical, real-world solutions.
• Ask an Advisor remains a key member benefit, often resulting in custom-built tools, checklists, calculators, and even policies when existing resources don’t fully address a question.
• MGMA playbooks are designed to consolidate articles, tools, reports, and guidance into a single, step-by-step roadmap for major topic areas like physician compensation, recruitment, and AI implementation.
• Playbooks help members move from “What do we do next?” to a clearer action plan, with hyperlinks that reduce the need to search across multiple parts of the MGMA website.
• The MGMA member community is a powerful peer-to-peer resource, especially for vendor selection, revenue cycle questions, staffing challenges, and operational benchmarking.
• Ask AI and Ask an Advisor serve different purposes — Ask AI surfaces existing MGMA content, while Ask an Advisor routes more complex or unmet questions directly to subject matter experts.
• Professional development opportunities such as ACMPE, fellowship, and virtual conferences like the MGMA Summit offer flexible ways to earn credits and deepen expertise.
• Wellness matters — from mindfulness and meditation to community-building activities and even fostering rescue animals, sustainable leadership requires attention to life outside of work.

Resources Mentioned

• Connect with Cristy Good on LinkedIn
• Ask an Advisor (MGMA)
• MGMA Playbooks
• MGMA Member Tools and Checklists
• MGMA Member Community
• 2026 MGMA Summit (virtual conference)
• ACMPE Fellowship Information

Mindfulness and Wellness Apps Mentioned

• Headspace
• Insight Timer
• Calm

Email us at dwilliams@mgma.com if you would like to appear on an episode. If you have a question about your practice that you would like us to answer, send an email to advisor@mgma.com. Don’t forget to subscribe to our network wherever you get your podcasts!