Biography and education
Dr. Cristian H. Lieneck is the Director of the School of Health Administration at Texas State University, where he has spent over 15 years preparing future healthcare leaders.
His career began as an emergency medical technician and as a U.S. Army Medical Service Corps officer, where he earned multiple recognitions for his leadership related to medical evacuation missions and follow-on senior-executive military health service operations, including being awarded the Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) upon completion of his active duty military service. He has over a decade follow-on experience leading medical group practices/outpatient service organizations across Texas, specializing in financial management and health service marketing initiatives. His prior experience includes leadership positions at Austin Radiological Association (ARA), the Texas Medicaid Community Assistance Support Program, and serving as the practice administrator of a physiatry/pain management medical group consisting of an outpatient surgery suite in Austin and multiple clinics across Central Texas.
Today, Dr. Lieneck is well known for strengthening the professional development of healthcare leaders nationwide. He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), the Academy for Healthcare Management (AHM), the Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), and actively mentors early-, mid-, and senior-level healthcare administrators across all sectors of the industry. He was previously elected and served as an ACHE Regent for Central and South Texas (District 4), where he supported executives through education, networking, and leadership programming. He continues to teach financial management, information technology/management, and the general business domain modules for the ACHE Board of Governors FACHE exam review course, assisting hundreds of healthcare leaders with their professional development goals and is a very active ACHE CHOICE program faculty member - speaking and conducting educational workshops to hospitals and healthcare systems regularly. Simultaneously serving as Texas MGMA’s Forum Representative, he builds connections across practice management leaders and contributes to advancing the profession of medical group practice management, assisting outpatient administration leaders with the skills needed to succeed through lectures and conference presentations.
Dr. Lieneck continues to research and publish on healthcare finance, practice management, and value-based leadership while serving on local, state, and national committees. His recently published textbook, "Healthcare Financial Accounting: A Guide for Leaders" in 2022 has been adopted by multiple graduate and undergraduate programs in higher education and is even offered as a primary textbook with his new online course ("CODE BLUE on your Balance Sheet: A Healthcare Financial Accounting Refresher") for non-student healthcare leaders seeking additional learning support though the Texas State University Continuing Education program. His work reflects a commitment to both academic excellence and applied leadership development, ensuring healthcare executives are prepared to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing industry.
Known for incorporating his bluegrass mandolin playing in his teaching sessions, he also enjoys spending time with his family and traveling.
His career began as an emergency medical technician and as a U.S. Army Medical Service Corps officer, where he earned multiple recognitions for his leadership related to medical evacuation missions and follow-on senior-executive military health service operations, including being awarded the Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) upon completion of his active duty military service. He has over a decade follow-on experience leading medical group practices/outpatient service organizations across Texas, specializing in financial management and health service marketing initiatives. His prior experience includes leadership positions at Austin Radiological Association (ARA), the Texas Medicaid Community Assistance Support Program, and serving as the practice administrator of a physiatry/pain management medical group consisting of an outpatient surgery suite in Austin and multiple clinics across Central Texas.
Today, Dr. Lieneck is well known for strengthening the professional development of healthcare leaders nationwide. He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), the Academy for Healthcare Management (AHM), the Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), and actively mentors early-, mid-, and senior-level healthcare administrators across all sectors of the industry. He was previously elected and served as an ACHE Regent for Central and South Texas (District 4), where he supported executives through education, networking, and leadership programming. He continues to teach financial management, information technology/management, and the general business domain modules for the ACHE Board of Governors FACHE exam review course, assisting hundreds of healthcare leaders with their professional development goals and is a very active ACHE CHOICE program faculty member - speaking and conducting educational workshops to hospitals and healthcare systems regularly. Simultaneously serving as Texas MGMA’s Forum Representative, he builds connections across practice management leaders and contributes to advancing the profession of medical group practice management, assisting outpatient administration leaders with the skills needed to succeed through lectures and conference presentations.
Dr. Lieneck continues to research and publish on healthcare finance, practice management, and value-based leadership while serving on local, state, and national committees. His recently published textbook, "Healthcare Financial Accounting: A Guide for Leaders" in 2022 has been adopted by multiple graduate and undergraduate programs in higher education and is even offered as a primary textbook with his new online course ("CODE BLUE on your Balance Sheet: A Healthcare Financial Accounting Refresher") for non-student healthcare leaders seeking additional learning support though the Texas State University Continuing Education program. His work reflects a commitment to both academic excellence and applied leadership development, ensuring healthcare executives are prepared to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing industry.
Known for incorporating his bluegrass mandolin playing in his teaching sessions, he also enjoys spending time with his family and traveling.
Research Interests
Featured grants
- Lieneck, Cristian H. The evolving role of the healthcare CFO: A 10-year follow-up study to determine senior financial executive group differences, Texas State University, $500. (Funded: 2013). Grant.
- Lieneck, Cristian H. The journey towards accountable care, Texas State University, Texas State University, $2805. (Funded: 2012). Grant.
- Lieneck, Cristian H. Health Information Management Systems Technology and Analysis (HIMSTA) Program: Data and Information Course Series (3 modules), Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) and Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS), Private / Foundation / Corporate, $5000. (Funded: 2011). Grant.

Featured scholarly/creative works
- Lieneck, C. H. (2022). Healthcare financial accounting: A guide for leaders, 1st ed. San Diego, CA: Cognella.
- Lieneck, C. H. (2020). Is bigger better? Hospitals and ‘Merger Mania.’ In Hospitals and Health Systems (pp. 101–116). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
- Lieneck, C. H., Garvey, J., Collins, C., Graham, D., Loving, C., & Pearson, R. (2020). Rapid Telehealth Implementation during the COVID-19 Global Pandemic: A Rapid Review. Healthcare, (8). https://doi.org/doi:10.3390/healthcare8040517
- Ramamonjiarivelo, Z. H., Lieneck, C. H., Kruse, C. S., Greene, L., & Fulton, L. V. (2020). Assessing the impact of professional certifications on time-to-hire, job satisfaction, and career growth of health administration alumni. Journal of Health Administration Education, 37(1), 25–44.
- Lieneck, C. H., & Salvador. (2018). Collaboration or collusion?: Commercial online resources for students in the digital age: An opinion piece. Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice, 16. Retrieved from https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1729&context=ijahsp
Featured awards
- Award / Honor Recipient: Second Place - Faculty/Student Research Category, Texas State University College of Health Professions Faculty and Student Research Forum. April 2025
- Award / Honor Recipient: Third Place - Faculty/Student Research Category, Texas State University College of Health Professions Faculty and Student Research Forum. 2021
- Award / Honor Recipient: MGMA Lifetime Achievement Award, Medical Group Management Association. June 2021
- Award / Honor Recipient: First Place - Faculty/Student Research Category, Texas State University College of Health Professions Faculty and Student Research Forum. 2017
- Award / Honor Recipient: American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Regent Award (Senior Level), American College of Healthcare Executives. 2017

Featured service activities
- Member
Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) Program Director Manual
- Member
Office of Distance and Extended Learning (ODEL) Faculty Mentor Corps
- Chair
Honor Code Council, Texas State University
- Other
Medical Group Management Association-American College of Medical Practice Executives (MGMA-ACMPE) State Forum Representative (Texas)
Search Committee Chair: School of Health Administration Search Committee
- Member
Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) Undergraduate Program Review Committee member