Spotlight: Jacob Sattler on the importance of RCM in private equity-backed businesses

Senior Associate Practice Leader Jacob Sattler studied journalism, coached soccer and sold tech before joining Charles Aris, but now he’s focused on helping his private equity-backed healthcare clients save money through revenue cycle management.

The common thread: Sattler has a knack for strategic partnership, where he’s constantly focused on improving his clients’ outcome, whether that be winning soccer games or streamlining revenue cycle management (RCM).

He began honing this mindset in Wisconsin as a high school wrestler.

Background, education and coaching

Jacob grew up in Racine, Wisconsin and pursued wrestling in high school, an experience that ingrained the resilience he credits as a core success factor in business. He was also an avid soccer player throughout high school and into college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

During college, Sattler took an interest in journalism but quickly gravitated toward the business side of this field. He served as business manager for The Daily Cardinal, one of the school’s two independent student publications. He graduated with a journalism degree but moved into sales after relocating to Austin, Texas.

Jacob says he did well in sales because he had no reservations about dialing the phone, having genuine conversations and learning how to add value for clients and customers. He sold tech products for two different companies during his stint in Austin and learned the ins and outs of account management. But Jacob missed competitive sports, so he decided to pivot into soccer coaching.

As he moved states for his wife’s career in academia, Jacob landed coaching roles for several soccer clubs in Wisconsin and eventually as the head coach for Greensboro College after moving to North Carolina. Here, he would come to learn about Charles Aris and eventually join as an associate recruiter.

Building a personal and professional brand at Charles Aris

In 2021, an internal recruiter from Charles Aris saw how Jacob’s sales and athletic backgrounds could converge into a successful career at the firm and called Sattler to join the ranks. He accepted the position and served as a generalist, recruiting across several niche areas such as strategy, finance and private equity.

As he applied the resilience learned from competitive sports and the grit he developed in sales, Sattler quickly began closing searches and moving up in his career. He found natural alignment with Senior Vice President Jim Etling and Senior Practice Leader Josh Kotelnicki, and he formally joined the Finance & Corporate Development Practice.

As he balanced time managing and recruiting for his active searches, Sattler earned his promotion to senior associate practice leader in 2024. In this role, he’s excited to expand on the firm’s experience recruiting RCM leaders, specifically for private equity-backed healthcare businesses.

“Jacob has a creative, think-outside-the-box ability that is balanced by a pragmatic, get-it-done approach. This balance makes Jacob one of the best in quickly identifying the ideal candidate and making sure his clients have the needed measures in place to successfully make the hire,” said colleague Ryan Krumroy.

Preparing for the strategic future of RCM

Financial leaders are in a unique position. Many of the roles traditionally focused on regulatory work and general financial management have evolved into strategic growth partners, especially at the CFO, controller and financial planning and analysis levels.

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In private equity-backed businesses, where financial stewardship and M&A serve as key growth drivers, CFOs are now seen as equal partners to the CEO. This evolution is expected to trickle down to other financial functions, including RCM, which has an outsized impact on cash flow and process improvement.

With growing partnerships in private equity, healthcare businesses are spending more time building out their RCM positions. Sattler is forming his practice to meet them at the starting line with the time-tested Charles Aris recruiting process and a wealth of knowledge in healthcare, finance and corporate development.

To learn more about our recruiting capabilities in healthcare RCM, contact Jacob Sattler at (336) 217-9112 or jacob.sattler@charlesaris.com.