Behind the Claims: Diana Villagomez Zavala @ Brave Health

Behind the Claims is a series celebrating the partners who power healthcare operations behind the scenes. Nirvana’s technology is built by billers, for billers—and we understand how essential it is to have systems that truly work for the people and organizations using them. Healthcare is ultimately powered by people. Through this series, we’re highlighting standout individuals at our partner organizations who embody that mission and make a real difference every day.

About Brave Health

Brave Health is a Miami-based virtual mental health company on a mission to expand access to care for Medicaid and Medicare patients. While the company also works with commercial insurance, its focus is on populations that often have the fewest resources — patients leaving hospitals who might not even have a ride to an appointment, let alone access to consistent mental health care.

By delivering services via telehealth, Brave provides patients with an accessible, affordable lifeline to therapy and psychiatric support.

Diana’s Path Into Healthcare Operations

For Diana Villagomez Zavala, Operations Lead at Brave Health, healthcare operations wasn’t an obvious first step. She came to Brave with a background in logistics and  years of experience as a mental health technician. Starting as an access counselor, she learned registration and patient intake before growing into operations.

“Brave gave me the opportunity to learn what it means to work in a startup and really grow into operations,” she says. Over the past four years, she has shifted from direct patient-facing work to shaping the processes that keep Brave running smoothly.

“It’s always been patient-focused, but now I also see what goes into providing quality care on the back end. That’s opened my eyes to how much operational efficiency matters in creating a better patient experience.”

The Role of Technology in Scaling Access

Diana has watched technology dramatically transform her work. “Before, verifying eligibility was a hassle – calling insurance companies, waiting for hours, and still not being sure if coverage was accurate,” she recalls.

With Nirvana, that burden is gone. “Now I can verify coverage in 30 to 60 seconds. It’s completely changed the pace of our work.”

Every month, Brave runs eligibility checks on 17,000–20,000 active patients. What once took weeks is now completed in a single day, with over 93% accuracy. “That accuracy is mind-blowing,” Diana says. “It’s cut out about 20 hours of work each week and lets us spend time where it matters – solving problems for patients.”

Problem-Solving on the Best Days

On her best days, Diana thrives on troubleshooting. “I love coming in, seeing what’s not working, and being able to create a solution that improves quality of service,” she explains. “When we put a new process in place and it sticks – that’s the best feeling.”

Her role spans across multiple teams, and like many startup leaders, she wears many hats. “On the days I love my job, it’s when the company runs smoothly because of something we fixed together. That’s the real payoff.”

The Hardest Verifications and Patient Expectations

Not every day is easy. Some of the toughest challenges come from reconciling what patients believe about their insurance with what the data shows.

“Patients often think that because they pay a premium, everything will be covered. They don’t always understand co-pays or deductibles,” Diana explains. When they later discover a balance, those conversations can be difficult – sometimes requiring escalation.

“In the mental health field, emotions run high. You only have so much time before a patient doesn’t want to talk anymore. That’s why accuracy matters so much – getting it right the first time builds trust.”

If She Could Change One Thing…

When asked what she’d change about insurance verification as it looks today across the industry, Diana doesn’t hesitate. “Accuracy,” she says. “One day a patient is active, the next day they’re not, even though nothing has changed. Medicaid and Medicare are especially challenging because their systems don’t update in real time. That’s what I’d fix.”

Partnering With Nirvana

Since Brave began working with Nirvana in February, Diana has seen the system improve rapidly – from 70% accuracy to over 93% in just six months.

“The responsiveness has been amazing,” she says. “We give feedback, and Nirvana works with us right away to fix it. That partnership makes a huge difference.” She recalls sending spreadsheets of data  back and forth with the team, testing different approaches until processes worked better. “That collaboration has been invaluable. We feel like we’re building something together that directly helps our patients.”

Why Diana Stays Motivated

At the heart of Diana’s work is a commitment to patients – a thread that connects her early days as a mental health technician to her role today.

“We want to make sure patients get care without worrying about what happens behind the scenes. When we get it right, the work is invisible to them – and that’s when I know we’re succeeding.”

Her motivation is also rooted in problem-solving. “I love that I can take an issue, create a solution, and see how it improves care,” she says. “That’s what keeps me going.”

Nirvana takeaway

Nirvana is nothing without the billers and operators who use us everyday to improve their workflows. We are a technology built by expert billers designed to make life easier for all billing organizations. Healthcare Operators and system thinking problem solvers like Diana are working quietly behind the scenes to make healthcare more easier and accessible for all.

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