Leon Blount

L. Lamar Blount, CPA

Professional Experience

From 2003 to present, Blount has been the President and Founder of Health Law Network (HLN), where he directs CPAs, CFEs, MBAs, Revenue Cycle Managers, Credentialed Coding Professionals, Statisticians, and Valuation Experts in providing litigation support, forensic accounting, and compliance consulting. The firm evaluates: reasonable value of medical services, medical & economic damages, medical billing disputes, UCR, reasonable medical charges, cost of care, life care plan pricing, ICD & CPT coding, facility & professional fee billing, clinical documentation,  Medicare & Medicaid compliance, provider & managed care payment disputes, statistical sampling, and health insurance. HLN's experts have served thousands of clients hospitals, physicians, insurance companies, and healthcare law firms nationwide, and have served as consulting experts in 500+ cases in 43 states, and provided plaintiff and defense expert testimony in multiple US District Courts and State Courts, with our testimony upheld in multiple Appellate Courts. 

From 2003 - 2024 Blount was the founder and Chairman of American Benefit Advisors (ABA), Inc., which provided employee benefit solutions to employers through improved benefit plans and communications, including plan design, TPA selection, web-based enrollment, and benefit communication systems.

From 1990 to 2002, Blount was the Chairman and Founder of Healthcare Management Advisors, a national consulting firm that served over 1,600 hospitals and healthcare providers across 50 states. He directed a 50-person consulting practice that provided compliance program implementation, compliance reviews, DRG and APC documentation and billing reviews, medical record audits, utilization management and quality assurance services, reimbursement planning and appeals, operational reviews, and litigation support.

Between 1981 and 1990, Blount was a Partner and Co-Founder of Hyatt, Imler, Ott & Blount, which was the tenth largest CPA firm in Atlanta as of 1990. He developed the firm's audit and healthcare financial consulting practice, including services like reimbursement planning, financial projections, medical record and utilization reviews, receivables management, litigation support, CON assistance, rate analysis, and feasibility studies.

From 1974 to 1981, Blount worked as a Healthcare Audit Manager at Ernst & Young in Atlanta, where he supervised financial audits and reimbursement consulting engagements for Georgia healthcare clients.

Education and Certifications

Blount obtained a BBA with a Major in Accounting from Georgia Southern University in 1974. He became a Certified Public Accountant in Georgia in 1976 (CPA #3625). He later earned certifications as a Certified Healthcare Financial Professional in 1997 and a Fellow of the Healthcare Financial Management Association in 1998. Blount also obtained licenses as a Property & Casualty Insurance Agent (Georgia #595707, in 2001) and a Life, Accident & Sickness Insurance Agent (Georgia #595707, in 2002).

Lectures and Programs

Blount has delivered numerous lectures and programs on various healthcare finance, compliance, and reimbursement topics for organizations such as the American Institute of CPAs, American Association of Physicians & Surgeons, National Association of Public Hospitals, Association of Healthcare Auditors and Educators, Georgia Hospital Association, New York State Society of CPAs, Florida Institute of CPAs, and various Healthcare Financial Management Association state chapters.

Publications

Blount co-authored the book "Mastering the Reimbursement Process" (Second & Third Editions) for the American Medical Association. He was the Editor and Publisher of the "HMA Strategy Advisor" newsletter from June 1990 to August 2002, and the "Strategy Advisor News" newsletter from June 2003 to February 2004. Blount has also served on the Editorial Advisory Boards of several healthcare industry publications, including Medical Office Manager, Medical Records Briefing, and Report on Medicare Compliance.

Professional Societies and Associations

Blount is a member of the American Academy of Economic and Financial Experts, the American Institute of CPAs, the American Health Lawyers Association, the Georgia Society of CPAs (where he has previously served on the Ethics Committee), and a past member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (where he previously served as a Georgia Board Member).