Choosing a career in revenue integrity
Revenue integrity professionals have diverse backgrounds and skill sets. Many have experience working in other hospital departments, which provides them with a better understanding of the value of revenue integrity across the organization.
To learn why revenue integrity professionals pursued their current roles, NAHRI recently surveyed members. Following are some of their responses.
Q: Why did you pick a career in revenue integrity?
Brittanie Smiddy, revenue integrity lead at Confluence Health in Wenatchee, Washington: There are so many opportunities under the revenue integrity umbrella. You can specialize in charge description master (CDM), reporting, denials management, auditing, or authorizations. It's a position that gets to work very closely with every department that affects the life cycle of a claim.
Michella Borden, RHIT, revenue integrity department supervisor at St. Charles Health System in Bend, Oregon: There is always a new fire to put out daily. There is never a dull moment, and every day is filled with learning opportunities. My background is in utilization management and coordinating medical necessity level of care denials, which I initially thought fulfilled my desire to problem solve. When a revenue integrity role opened up, I read the description and knew it would be a good fit. I have only been in revenue integrity for about 18 months now, but I know right I’m right where I’m meant to be. I absolutely love the puzzles, charge reconciliation, learning about claim edits, finding hidden gems in hospital accounts, and everything in between.
Susan E. Lundgren, COC, CHRI, CPAR, revenue integrity hospital auditor at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia: It picked me. I started in patient accounting and was involved in problem-solving and research, which led to CDM and compliance reviews.
Shelby Lee, revenue integrity operations manager at UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco, California: I chose to pursue a career in revenue integrity as it allows me to problem solve. The work is multifaceted and ever-changing. It requires a broad skill set including technical, process-oriented, effective communication, and leadership skills.