FARLEN HALIKMAN, CPA, CHFE

HEALTHCARE PRACTICE GROUP

Farlen leads a best-of-class public accounting team preparing audits and reviews, financial reporting and strategy development engagements for a wide variety of healthcare providers.

Farlen has over 32 years of experience in CPA practice and is recognized by the AICPA as an expert in healthcare-industry accounting and auditing matters. Currently serving his second appointment to the AICPA Health Care Expert Panel, he and the other 11 CPA’s on the panel are involved in the process of developing the accounting and auditing standards for the myriad issues impacting the healthcare industry. In this era of fast-paced change in the way healthcare is paid for, delivered and regulated, it’s a critical success factor for providers to have a trusted guide and a winning change management strategy. Farlen takes a personal interest in his clients' success. He uses his knowledge of the complex and rapidly changing reimbursement regulations to help his clients with strategies to optimize their resources and provide the best possible patient care.  

Farlen has additional certification in Healthcare Fraud Examination, Risk Management, and Compliance and serves as an advocate for healthcare providers in administrative hearings and litigation support.  

He oversees the audits and reviews for a wide variety of healthcare providers, including hospitals, skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities, behavioral health organizations, home healthcare providers, hospice organizations, and physician practices. Farlen also provides progressive consulting services in the areas of internal accounting department structure, Medicare, and Medicaid reimbursement and compliance issues, new-project financing, mergers and acquisitions, and compensation issues.

A nationally recognized author and speaker, Farlen is a frequent presenter on auditing standards, accounting and business strategy topics at accounting and healthcare industry conferences.  He was an author and reviewer of the 2015-2016 AICPA Audit Risk Alert Health Care Industry Developments. He has also taught accounting courses at the University of Central Florida.

Why did you choose this profession? My mother had a beauty salon with about six or seven employees.  When my father got home from work, he would do her accounting.  But he was often called away for space shots or reserve duty.  So, when I was fourteen or so, my father showed me how to do the payroll and balance the salon’s books.  I used VisiCalc on my Commodore 64 to write a program that automated the payroll.  It worked well, and I decided I could do stuff like that for a living.  

Why did you choose MSL over other firms? I grew up in Cocoa, Florida.  My father was involved with telemetry technology for the space program.  He worked on every manned space shot from Alan Sheppard’s first Mercury-Redstone through Apollo 17.  He was the first person to record video from outer space on the Gordon Cooper flight.  Brevard County was a unique place to grow up.  Everyone was single-minded about the mission of getting to the moon, and that created a very special sense of community and belonging to a winning team.  He jumped out of bed every morning to get to work because he was excited about it.  MSL operates at the forefront of the CPA profession, and that makes me excited about my work, too.  I guess everyone wants to belong to a winning team.  

What unique value do you bring to your clients? I’m always thinking of strategies for them to better succeed, whether in making more money, keeping more of what they make or better use of their resources to provide patient care.

What do you enjoy most about your area of concentration? It's good karma work.  If I can help a healthcare provider obtain more resources or make the most of their resources, they can care for patients the way they deserve to be cared for.  It’s exciting that a CPA can have a role in helping their clients heal their patients.  

Tell us one step to success that any business can take. Figure out what your distinctive competence is and do it.  Don’t get distracted from that thing that you do best.  

How do you unwind when you have free time? What's free time?

What would you do if you won the Power Ball Lottery? My first call would be to Kurt Alter (MSL’s Director of Tax).  

EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY

CERTIFICATIONS
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT – LICENSED IN FLORIDA

CERTIFIED IN HEALTHCARE FRAUD EXAMINATION AND RISK MANAGEMENT

AFFILIATIONS
AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS

AICPA HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY EXPERT PANEL

FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS

FICPA HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY CONFERENCE COMMITTEE, MEMBER

FLORIDA HEALTH CARE ASSOCIATION

LEADINGAGE FLORIDA

HEALTHCARE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION

FLORIDA HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE ASSOCIATION

MEDICAL GROUP MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION

COMMUNITY

ORANGE COUNTY COMMISSION ON AGING 

CITY OF ORLANDO AUDIT BOARD

FLORIDA HOSPITAL HOSPICE OF THE COMFORTER, BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

CJ PROPERTY, INC., A NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATION, FOUNDER AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS