From Advocacy to Action: A Conversation with MGMA's 2026 Legislative Liaison of the Year Adam Pople
Download MP3Well, hi, everyone. I'm Daniel Williams, senior editor at MGMA and host of the MGMA Podcast Network. I am so excited today in this time of year because we get to honor our MGMA members with various awards. Today, joining us on the show is Adam Pople. You may remember him.
Daniel Williams:We had him at our, Denver show. We did a live interview. I just literally pulled Adam out of the crowd, and he was happy to jump on the show. Fast fast forward two years, and Adam is our MGMA Legislative Liaison of the Year for 2026. Adam, you also I believe your title may have changed.
Daniel Williams:Maybe even the company may have changed over the past two years. So we're gonna chat with you in a minute and kinda catch up what's been going on since 2024. You are currently director of ambulatory acceleration at Saint Francis Healthcare System. You are also Missouri's MGMA Legislative Liaison. I'll pause there then.
Daniel Williams:Adam, it is so good to catch up with you, and congratulations.
Adam Pople:Well, thank you. It's it's, good to be back with you.
Daniel Williams:All right. Now we'll talk a lot about the award. First, I just want you to tell me what's going on. You don't have to fill in all of the past two years, but was I correct? Did you change jobs, titles?
Daniel Williams:What's what's going on there?
Adam Pople:I'm with a new organization and a new role, and so you were right on both counts. So I've I've been in my current role for just over a year, and really enjoy the the new organization and and being in our new role, so it's it's fun.
Daniel Williams:That's exciting. Alright. Gonna bounce around a lot because you and I had a lot of fun. We have a few notes in front of us today. Two years ago, we had nothing.
Daniel Williams:We did not know each other. We literally just bumped into each other at the show. You may have told me you had heard the podcast. I don't really remember what, how we kind of bumped into each other, but I remember we went into the studio there, own site down at the Denver Convention Center, and we had a lot of fun getting to know each other then. So for the sake of today That's
Adam Pople:a long time listener, first time caller.
Daniel Williams:That's it. That's it. I knew it. I thought so. I thought so.
Daniel Williams:So let's we are gonna bounce around, but let's start with the award. I want to say it again because it is a mouthful, but it it is it is an impactful role. So you are MGMA's 2026 Legislative Liaison of the Year. How did you learn that you had won Liaison of the Year, and what was your reaction when you did find out?
Adam Pople:I actually got a phone call from an unknown number, and at first I was like, I don't answer that. But then I got an email from the same phone number, and I was like, oh, maybe I should have answered. Yeah. And so I gave him a callback, and that's when I found out about the award, it was just my initial reaction was kind of a mix of surprise and gratitude. Yeah.
Adam Pople:So many people behind the scenes that do amazing things through MGMA at and both the national and state levels. So it just feels amazing to have these efforts acknowledged. I also thought a little bit back as we were as I was first getting the award and learning about it, I thought back to two folks who kind of got me started down the advocacy path. They were early on in my healthcare career, a gentleman by the name of John Gallagher and a lady by the name of Emily Kevin. And they just showed me the ropes and helped me understand how to get involved.
Adam Pople:And I think with folks like that, they inspire the next generation, and that's something I hope to do with this award too.
Daniel Williams:That is really cool, and with all of these awards, and particularly this Legislative Liaison Award, I like to define what a liaison does a bit for our listeners because each year I get to talk to the winners of that award, and I learn so much. And I learn some of the advocacy that they're involved in. So you're with Missouri MGMA. You're their legislative liaison. Let's talk about that first.
Daniel Williams:What does a state legislative liaison do?
Adam Pople:Yeah. I see the legislative liaison as a connection between practice leaders, and government happenings. Sometimes what happens behind the walls of a state capital seems really complicated, and so I try and take that complicated language and procedure and all the different aspects of the legislation and distill it down into something that's easier for everybody to understand. And not only just what are the bills out there, what's happening with those bills, but how can we affect change, and how can we be a part of that process? Okay.
Adam Pople:I
Daniel Williams:have to ask you this. Sorry about that. Let me just jump in here. Are you like a political wonk, by nature? Are you somebody that loves that and and just pulls it apart in every way, or was that the role that was open in Missouri at the time?
Daniel Williams:How How did Adam land as the legislative liaison?
Adam Pople:Yeah. I think I landed in this role because I started an interest in it back when I first got in healthcare. Was in DME, and and we had a big group in in the state of Montana that became really active with getting involved at the state and national level. And so that's where those two individuals, John and Emily, kind of took me under their wing and helped me understand that there is a role for folks to get involved and how we can get involved and the impact that it does make. And so now as I am in my role, I'm trying to do the same thing where I'm helping folks understand that there's impacts to be made, and and we need to.
Adam Pople:We can't just sit on the sidelines.
Daniel Williams:Right. Okay. So I just learned something about you. You started out in Montana. Is that correct?
Daniel Williams:And then you moved to Missouri?
Adam Pople:Through a few other places. But Okay. I have
Daniel Williams:to ask, is Mississippi or Maine next on your state that you wanna be a liaison with?
Adam Pople:Hopefully, I'm in Missouri for a little bit longer. Montana was fun, but then we had a short stay in Colorado and and hoping to plant a little more roots right where we are.
Daniel Williams:That's perfect. That's perfect. Good answer. Good answer. So you are deftly avoided the question, not to get into politics, but are you want someone who watches politics, or is it because you're being impacted specifically and personally in healthcare and the organization, so that is something you're interested in?
Daniel Williams:Or in general, do you pay attention to, like, legislation and that sort of thing?
Adam Pople:I've never been afraid of a good debate. Always enjoyed, you know, kind of those aspects, but I don't sit around and watch C SPAM.
Daniel Williams:Right.
Adam Pople:I don't, you know, spend all day, like, combing through the records of Congress. Really, I get involved with this because it impacts us. Right. I see the impact that it has as legislation gets passed, and, you know, folks like to complain about it after the fact. Well, we have to get involved before so that we can try and make it as good as we can.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. You brought up something earlier that because anybody who has watched C SPAN or even read, like, when the Supreme Court reads out their decision that they've made, and I've got a thesaurus out, you know, trying to pay attention and follow their line of verbiage that I'm hearing. It's a word salad, and so that's sometimes how lawyers speak. I say this because I have a lot of lawyers in my family, and I say, talk to me. I'm a normal, layman here.
Daniel Williams:I'm not a lawyer. So you take the really complex stuff. You bring it in a very generalized sense. So the rest of the organization or the Missouri MGMA knows what you're talking about there. How do you dig in then?
Daniel Williams:How are you digging into these complex legislative, I don't know, decisions or whatever it may be, an action point so it can be understood for others as well? What do you do?
Adam Pople:Yeah, I think first it was trying to get a hold of the legislative process in Missouri and understand and wrap my head around that, And so that was part of it. Know, we have a short general assembly season that goes from January to May. So that's a short time for bills to happen, so things happen fast. And so I was wrapping my head around that process and then learning how to track different bills. We have good websites from our state house and our state senate that I've learned to navigate, but it took time.
Adam Pople:So I'm trying to leverage my knowledge to make it easier for others. So that's really it. And then, you know, taking our voice to Jefferson City and and meeting with folks there, and trying to develop the relationships with those, policymakers so that they understand and they hear from us.
Daniel Williams:Give us an idea then. When you're the liaison for Missouri, you're going to was it Jefferson Jefferson City? Jefferson
Adam Pople:City is the Jefferson Missouri
Daniel Williams:City. I need to learn my state history of Missouri. Okay. So you're doing that. Are you doing that in conjunction with others, with other associations, other advocacy groups for health care?
Daniel Williams:How does that work?
Adam Pople:So there's a lot of ways to do it, and this last year we coordinated with the Missouri State Medical Association. They do a white coat day, and so we went on white coat day. And so we had a couple of us from MGMA and some folks from MSMA, and we coordinated visits, and I think that you can go online and find out who are the folks on the key committees and just call them, email them, and set up meetings and visits, and they're happy to do it.
Daniel Williams:Okay. I remember asking this of some past winners of this particular award, but if one of our listeners or many of our listeners are listening and going, oh my gosh, that is not for me, What would you say because I see your enthusiasm when you talk about it. What is what's a good selling point? If you were recruiting, you said you had mentors in the liaison world. What's your selling point or your marketing kind of speech here, that you would share with others to get them interested in it and what the payoff is?
Adam Pople:Yeah. If somebody comes to me and they're like, who's just so intimidating? I don't know how to approach them. They're they're a senator. I'm like, well, they're a senator, but you're the expert in what you do.
Adam Pople:And and so many of these senators and and representatives, they're not anybody from the health care world. Right. They were, you know, law enforcement. They were farmers. They were teachers.
Adam Pople:They were judges. They have a diverse background, and so we have to take our expertise and help them understand the details of it. So when I'm rallying around people, a lot of times I'm trying to remove that stigma of they're these high and lofty people. No, they're approachable people, and most of them genuinely want to hear from us because we do understand and have the expertise in our specific areas. And so it's a thing where everybody thinks they're right until somebody tells them otherwise, and sometimes we have to be the ones that help them understand where they're tripping up, you know, health care leaders and health care organizations in their states.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. Give us an example then. What's in an advocacy issue, a point that you and others have gone to Jefferson City and really found some success or found like, hey, we are in the process here of making a difference?
Adam Pople:So last year, we went to Jefferson City with the hot topic of prior authorization reform, and, you know, that's a hot topic everywhere, as a lot of folks are trying to get that passed. This is an area where we have tried for a number of years to get prior authorization reform passed in Missouri. This year was another year where we almost made it, and then it fell apart right at the end. But after the session, I ran into one of our local state senators back at home, and we just randomly caught each other, and he said, Hey, I remember you. So we had a quick conversation about prior authorization reform and what might be coming in the next session.
Adam Pople:So we're able to take some of those relationships and build future possibilities out of them.
Daniel Williams:That is so cool. Where did y'all run into each other? Like at a cookout or
Adam Pople:grocery At charity golf tournament.
Daniel Williams:Okay. Okay. That's awesome, and he remembers you. So I can think about this. When I'm hearing it, I'm going, wow.
Daniel Williams:I'm not a policy wonk, though. I don't have all the information. I liked what you said. You said, Adam, that people who are members of MGMA, members of MGMA's state affiliates, that they're the health care expert. So they might not know that language.
Daniel Williams:How do you meld those two where you can find common ground when you're talking to a legislator, and you're sharing with them the health care side of it. They may know it from the policy language side of it.
Adam Pople:Yeah, I think a policy position is one thing. Statistics are better if you can come with the idea of the true tangible ways it's impacted you, but the best thing you can do is bring a story. Yeah. Bring a story about how something has impacted your practice or a patient. Has there been a care delay?
Adam Pople:Has there been an inconvenience to the patient? Has there been anything that could have been avoided that maybe was made worse because of a policy decision? If you can come to the table with your policy position, your statistic, and your story to illustrate your point, you're much more likely to secure their support, to secure their understanding of your position, and you're starting to build that relationship. So really all we have to do is be storytellers. Yeah.
Adam Pople:We don't have to come in with all the knowledge of the language and the procedure, We just have to be storytellers, and we have to tell our story.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. I love that. So you and other award winners for MGMA are gonna be honored, in San Antonio. It's gonna be September 27 through the thirtieth. We're gonna have an awards ceremony.
Daniel Williams:We're really excited about that. Have you you've been in attendance seeing other people win those awards. Right? Did you are you one of those people that's real a big goal setter where you're going, I'm gonna be up on that stage one day, or walk us through what that's like now you're gonna be on the stage.
Adam Pople:I think that that the idea of being on the stage was was just foreign. Like, it it didn't cross my mind. I I really started this wanting to do the best job I could and and do as good as I could for for the members of our state, but I didn't necessarily set the goal of I'm gonna be the Legislative Liaison of the Year, and then, you know, next year I'm gonna be the next award, and it wasn't anything like that. Part of that is just there's so many folks doing the work. Right.
Adam Pople:It almost seemed like it was unattainable to get the award, but it's a wonderful recognition.
Daniel Williams:Okay. I have two more questions for you before we sign off. Doing that legislative work, that advocacy work, how has that translated to your practice? When you go back to the practice, you have steeped yourself in knowledge. You've worked with people from other fields, other walks of life.
Daniel Williams:How have you translated that and brought it back to the practice and helped make the practice better?
Adam Pople:I think paying attention to the legislative process has helped just from an awareness standpoint. If you're not paying attention to anything, then bills happen and they just kind of crush you, and you're like, where'd this come from? But if you if you pay attention a little bit, then you can get ahead of some things and start to make plans. And so you can start to plan ahead for impacts, whether it was from the one big beautiful bill act and how can you forecast and maybe make some plans to adjust around those. Or back when it was the No Surprises Act and we were having to send out all these letters to folks without insurance.
Adam Pople:It helped me plan ahead and be able to put things in place quicker and be a little more proactive with that planning than reactive.
Daniel Williams:That's really cool. Last question then. I always like to sort of step to the side here in this last question, because even though we put our so much effort and time into our work lives, we are human beings. We have life outside of work, believe it or not, and, I love to ask people what are they doing, what kind of hobby or passion, or what do they do when they're not working in healthcare? What's something that motivates you or just that you enjoy outside of work?
Adam Pople:First, I think I have a passion for helping and teaching folks, and so my wife and I also have a small durable medical equipment company that specializes in mastectomy and lymphoedema care for ladies who've gone through breast cancer, and so that's another avenue that I can help just care for our population and the folks in our region. And then on the teaching side, I coach archery team at a local school and I love getting outside and shooting my bow. And so it's a a fun thing to teach these, you know, fifth, sixth, and seventh graders how not to shoot each other and how to hit the target and hit the target where they wanna hit the target and see that growth from them as as a ton of fun. But, yeah, I love being outside, golfing, fishing, following our dogs around, being with the family.
Daniel Williams:That is really cool. Have you seen the Odyssey? Could you make that shot with the bow? Could you shoot through the axes that are placed together like that?
Adam Pople:Yeah, we'll say maybe.
Daniel Williams:To be determined.
Adam Pople:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Depends on the day, right?
Daniel Williams:Yeah. Well, you have a background in archery? Were you formally trained? Was it just a hobby of yours? How does one get to be a teacher of archery?
Adam Pople:You I met somebody with a kid in the school who who knew that I'm I liked doing it. Okay. And and they said, hey. Have you ever thought of? And I was like, well, that sounds like a good time.
Adam Pople:And so, yeah, it's a lot of fun. We're having a good time with
Daniel Williams:it. Remind us then, what's the age group, and then do you go compete against other high schools, that sort of thing?
Adam Pople:Yeah, so the school I'm with is elementary and middle school combined, so we have fourth through eighth grade, and we do go and have some regional competitions, it's all set around the National Archery in Schools program, and so they have local, regional, state, national, and and international competitions that technically any of any of these kids could qualify for.
Daniel Williams:That is so cool. Well, congrats on all fronts, and particularly for today, I wanna get this right. Adam Pople, you are MGMA's 2026 Legislative Liaison of the Year. Congratulations.
Adam Pople:Thank you, sir.
Daniel Williams:Alright. Well, everybody, I hope you're gonna be in San Antonio with Adam and me and a couple of thousand other people. We are gonna be providing a ceremony, for Adam and the other awards winners, so I hope you can be there for that as well. Until then, thank you all for being MGMA Podcast listeners.
