NAHRI Peer Recognition Program honors due diligence of professionals
Editor's note: Our Peer Recognition Program continues through the end of Revenue Integrity Week on June 5, so there's still time to nominate a colleague at www.surveymonkey.com/r/KTJXG6P. All nominees and nominators are entered to win one of our three Revenue Integrity Week drawings. Click here for additional information on drawings, deals of the day, and our $99 NAHRI membership. A full list of Peer Recognition Program nominees will be released next week.
NAHRI supports the professional accomplishments of all its members. If you know a fellow NAHRI member who has gone above and beyond in their role—be it a promotion, great idea, or helping hand—we want to help you give them a shout out. This year’s theme is Revenue Integrity Investigation: The Case of the Missing Revenue. In the spirit of Revenue Integrity Week, NAHRI would like to recognize its members for their valuable contributions to the field and for the ways in which they have helped their peers. Join us in celebrating our 2020 Peer Recognition Program nominees.
Daniel Auld, revenue integrity analyst at Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, received a Certification of Recognition for Excellence in Revenue Integrity from NAHRI on behalf of Lori Lawther, manager of revenue integrity at Allegheny Health Network.
“Dan worked on telehealth during the COVID-19 crisis, advising on correct codes and policy updates and changes, who can and cannot use telehealth, how to bill, use of new modifiers. The changes were fast and daily,” says Lawther.
Ron Maltase, division manager at Dignity Health in Rancho Cordova, California, received a Certification of Recognition for Excellence in Revenue Integrity from NAHRI on behalf of Andrew Piper, division director at Dignity Health.
“Ron is an exemplary revenue integrity professional. His technical skills and work ethic are only bested by his relationship building ability. Our team is seen as a trusted resource to our facilities and much of that is due to Ron's continued engagement and knowledge,” says Piper.
Crystal Nowery, MSN, RN, CHA, CPC, director of revenue integrity at Henry Ford Health System in Jackson, Michigan, received a Certification of Recognition for Excellence in Revenue Integrity from NAHRI on behalf of Sherry Grundy, manager of revenue integrity, Erin Tinnermon, manager of revenue integrity, and Chastity Reynolds, BA, RN, CHA, CPC, revenue integrity specialist, all of Henry Ford Health System.
“Crystal has gone above and beyond to investigate, learn, and educate in many subjects related to revenue integrity. I wanted to thank her for sharing her knowledge and contributing to the growth and success of our revenue integrity team,” says Grundy.
“Crystal is an exceptionally engaged revenue integrity team leader! She is always available to bounce ideas off and fully supports every member of our team. She shares information openly with the team, which given our current work climate is extremely important. Crystal has maintained constant communication in our new remote environment, finding new and unique ways to keep the team engaged and connected to one another. She collaborates well with all other departments which makes RI’s working relationship with other teams much easier. She is always willing to tackle projects and think outside the box. We are lucky to have her!” says Tinnermon.
“Crystal has gone above and beyond as revenue integrity director for Henry Ford Health System in facilitating the merging with Allegiance Health System. She has brought extensive knowledge of revenue integrity practices and as well CMS guidelines to ensure that Henry Ford Health System is compliant in billing and coding. Her professionalism in working with other departments is superb and she is an excellent example of a true team member. Crystal works long hours and is yet still willing to always lend a helping hand within the organization. She has taken the lead to help ensure the proper billing and coding during the COVID-19 pandemic and has helped develop workflow processes for the entire health system as workflows had to be adjusted. Crystal is a great leader and is always doing all that she can to help develop all team members to ensure their success,” says Reynolds.
Nicole Querio, CRCE, revenue cycle director at Sauk Prairie Healthcare in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, received a Certification of Recognition for Excellence in Revenue Integrity from NAHRI on behalf of Diana Cupp, RHIT, CPC, CPCO, lead medical coding specialist at Sauk Prairie Healthcare.
“I am nominating Nicole Querio in recognition of her continued support not only within our facility, but also in the revenue cycle industry. She is the current Chapter President of AAHAM of Wisconsin and has served as a board member for several years. She is not only a director of revenue, she’s also a wife, mother, and student seeking her bachelor’s degree. In Nicole's role as the revenue cycle director at Sauk Prairie Healthcare, she has accomplished so much in the last year that makes her stand out as a great role model and nominee for recognition. Nicole has implemented many revenue processes that's moved the revenue department by leaps and bounds to the next level of success. She has implemented a front-end ABN process for our clinics, which we were seeing many medical necessity denials. This implementation has trended our denials down, allowed staff to be educated on medical necessity and proven to be a success. During this time, she created a training program for our newly hired registration staff and current staff to learn in a structured environment with immediate feedback, competency exams, and assessment reporting. The training program consists of various areas that are job-specific so staff have a better understanding of how and why data elements are necessary and why it's so important for that data to be correct from the time the patient registers. The training program has shown to be successful by improved staff engagement and fluency in their positions. She has done an overhaul on her business office, by moving her billing staff from insurance specific coverage to an alpha split coverage. This allows for better coverage, increases staff knowledge and decreases our A/R days. Another perk to her overhaul she is able to analyze biller productivity more equally and this allows her to manage workloads, manage additional training needs and identify trends. Due to a restructure in our management, Nicole acquired the coding department at Sauk Prairie Healthcare last March. During her time as the director for coding, she has continued to work on internal and external coding audit processes, enhancing our CDI inpatient and outpatient program, and identifying needs for cross training coders for better coverage. She works very hard at listening to issues brought forth by staff, working with staff on solutions to identified issues and, as a student herself, she encourages her staff to develop and grow professionally. I am proud to work with Nicole. She is not only a mentor to me professionally, she is also a great colleague and friend. I hope you recognize Nicole for her great success and what she has done for the revenue cycle profession,” says Cupp.
Chelsea Raukar, RHIA, revenue integrity manager at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis, received a Certification of Recognition for Excellence in Revenue Integrity from NAHRI on behalf of Jessica Johnson, director of middle revenue cycle at Hennepin Healthcare.
“Chelsea leads with integrity, heart, and an open mind. She is curious and seeks input before making decisions. She interprets feedback as a gift and incorporates providing feedback into her daily regimen. She does this with genuine care, authenticity, and concern for others. She is always willing to have a crucial conversation in an effort to improve overall team morale. Chelsea works closely with managers on the middle revenue cycle team, practice management, informatics, EHR, provider leadership, and patient financial services. She has showcased what exceptional looks like and is recognized across the entire revenue cycle as the example. She delivers the highest quality products and services. Chelsea has incorporated feedback loops, implemented an idea board, put up some guard rails, and built standard work that met the needs of our provider partners. She is recognized across our organization as an expert, and her teams work has been recognized by provider leadership as, ‘the best service we’ve received in over five years’ and having a ‘high-performance’ team. All of these traits and skills packaged up has allowed Chelsea to build an incredible amount of trust. She is truly deserving of this recognition,” says Johnson.
Jennifer Wingard, senior revenue integrity analyst at Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, received a Certification of Recognition for Excellence in Revenue Integrity from NAHRI on behalf of Lori Lawther, manager of revenue integrity at Allegheny Health Network.
“Jennifer is our lab expert. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she kept on top of policy changes and final rule updates. Jennifer created lab codes and notified our lab clinics and directors to work on updating our CDM and creation of charges,” says Lawther.
Thank you from all of us at NAHRI for your dedication to the revenue integrity profession.