Summer 2012

Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs):Are They a Savior or a Snake?Seize the Power of Change: Five Proven Ways to Overcome Negativity, Improve Productivity and Ignite People

Benefits of Certified Compliance Technician (CCT )Certification

5010 Conversion Challenges

ANI 2012

Behavioral Interviews: Three Steps to Great Answers

Changing Your Attitude by Keeping Your Sense of Humor

Can External Call Centers Benefit Hospitals’ Access Departments?

CPAT - Certified Patient Account Technician

CCAT - Certified Clinic Account Technician

AAHAM certifications can give you a powerful competitive advantage with employers. Certifications demonstrate that you have mastered the common body of knowledge for you profession. AAHAM Study Manuals will help assist you in preparing for AAHAM certification programs. These manuals are the gateway to studying for and passing these exams. The manuals include review questions and study tips.

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Summer 2012 1

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table of contents

features10

departments

8 Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs): Are They a Savior or a Snake? By Rob Borchert

10 Seize the Power of Change: Five Proven Ways to Overcome Negativity, Improve Productivity and Ignite People By Kathy B. Dempsey, CSP,

12 Benefits of Certified Compliance Technician (CCT ) Certification By Maya Mohan, CPAM, FHFMA

14 5010 Conversion Challenges By Dean Mitts

15 ANI 2012

26 Behavioral Interviews Three Steps to Great Answers By Deborah Walker

28 Changing Your Attitude by Keeping Your Sense of Humor By Jan McInnis, Comedian

30 Can External Call Centers Benefit Hospitals’ Access Departments? By Steve Chrapla, CHFP

2 Letter from the Executive Director

4 Letter from the National President

6 Washington Wire By Paul A. Miller, PLC

32 Meet A Committee Chair: Michael (Mike) Dobbs, CPAM, Chapter Development Chair

33 Professional Certification Corner By Elizabeth Baptist, CPAM

34 From the Desk of the Certification Director By Maria LeDoux, CAE

35 Technical Certification Corner By Brenda Chambers, CPAM

36 From the Desk of the Membership Director By Moayad Zahralddin

41 National Calendar/The JHAM Network

42 Did You Know? By Moayad Zahralddin

AAHAM National Office Staff11240 Waples Mill Road, Suite 200, Fairfax, VA 22030

Executive Director Sharon R. Galler, CMP (703) 281-4043, ext. 204 sharon@aaham.org

Membership Director Moayad Zahralddin (703) 281-4043, ext. 202 moayad@aaham.org

Certification Director Maria LeDoux, CAE (703) 281-4043, ext. 201 maria@aaham.org

Finance Manager Christine Antal (703) 281-4043, ext. 216 christine@aaham.org

CEU & Technical Amanda Leibert Certification (703) 281-4043, ext. 211 Manager amanda@aaham.org

Manager of Danielle Burns Meetings & Events (703) 281-4043, ext. 209 danielle@aaham.org

Art Direction Christopher R. Izzo & Graphic Design CRI Design (401) 821-1849 chris@cridesignstudio.com

AAHAM National Executive Officers President Christine Stottlemyer, CPAM Director Patient Accounting Memorial Hospital PO Box 15118 York, PA 17405 Ph: (717)849-5431 cstottlemyer@mhyork.org

Chair of the Board Laurie Shoaf, CPAM Vice President Corporate Compliance, Inpatient Solutions NEXTGEN Healthcare 5511 Ridingate Cour Greensboro, NC 27455 Ph: (512) 904-4729 lshoaf@nextgen.com

First Vice President Victoria DiTomaso, CPAM System Director, CBO Lee Memorial Health System PO Box 150107 Cape Coral, FL 33915 Ph: (239)242-6011 vicki.ditomaso@leememorial.org

Second Vice President John Currier, CPAM, CCT Executive Director, Revenue Cycle Management Gibson Area Hospital and Health Services 1120 North Melvin Street Gibson City, IL 60936 Ph: (217)784-2613 john_currier@gibsonhospital.org

Treasurer Lori Sickelbaugh, CPAM Director Patient Business Services Wake Forest Baptist Health- Lexington Medical Center PO Box 1817 Lexington, NC 27293-1817 Ph: (336)238-4510 lsickelb@wakehealth.edu

Secretary Kathy Sandora, CPAM CDR Associates, LLC 212 Hummingbird Hill Cranberry Township, PA 16066 Ph: (443) 904-4361 ksandora@cdrassociates.com

Legal Counsel George Colman, Esquire Stephenson, Acquisto, & Colman 303 North Glenoaks Blvd. #700 Burbank, CA 91502 Ph: (818)559-4477 gcolman@sacfi rm.com

letter from the executive director

Sharon R. Galler

2 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

Welcome to our special pre-ANI issue, can you believe we are less than two months away? We are all busy gearing up for our ANI, “Changes in

Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes”, October 17-19, in beautiful Bonita Springs, Florida at the luxurious Hyatt regency Coconut Point hotel. We know funds are tight and have tried to make the ANI as economical as possible. We include most of your meals and have a jam packed list of speakers and sessions. Earn over 30 CEUs all at one place and all at one time. You will also meet exhibitors that offer you solutions to your at work challenges. We also have fun networking opportuni-ties to help you build integral relationships and help give you the edge in today’s competitive economy and job force. This year the “Jimmy Buffet” theme will be everywhere and will add to the fun and excitement. Wear your shorts, flowered shirts and flip flops to the banquet and get into the “Margaritaville” mood!

We hope you find this issue of the Journal informative and timely. Robert Borchert’s cover article about Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) is very in-teresting. ANI keynote speaker, Jan McInnis wrote a funny article about changing your attitude by finding humor in everyday things and Kathy Dempsey’s article on the changing to improve productivity keeps personal growth in the forefront. Dean Mitts’ article on 5010 conversion challenges and Steve Chrapla’s article on external call centers are both very current topics and on target. Be sure to read Deborah Walkers article on interview tips as well as Maya Mohan’s article on the many benefits of the AAHAM CCT certification.

Be sure to check out my blog on our website for some ANI tips, networking ideas and other news. A big AAHAM thank you to our advertisers, exhibitors and sponsors, we couldn’t do it without you!

Warm regards, Sharon

letter from the national president

Deadlines & Submission GuidelinesThe Journal welcomes submissions from AAHAM

members. Submission deadlines are as follows: Journal Issue Submission Deadline Fall 2012 September 28, 2012

Send submissions to:Executive Director, AAHAM

11240 Waples Mill Road, Suite 200Fairfax, VA 22030sharon@aaham.org

n Please send a copy of your submission on a CD (preferably IBM compatible), or e-mail it to: Sharon@aaham.org.

n Leave a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides.

n Use upper- and lower-case letters as you would in typing any correspondence.

n Indent the first line of each paragraph five spaces.

n Include a cover page with the following information: Author’s name, (degrees, certifications) Place of employment Position Address Phone/Fax number AAHAM Chapter Affiliation (if any)

n Any article submitted for reprint in the Journal must be accompanied by written permission to reproduce from the original source.

n Do not use abbreviations or italics.

n All photos become the property of AAHAM, unless you specifically request that they be returned. Each picture should be accompanied by a listing of all individuals in the picture (left to right). Black and white pictures reproduce better than color.

n All articles are subject to editing by AAHAM. AAHAM reserves the right to hold articles for future Journal issues when space is limited.

n Articles referring to or endorsing specific products or services will not be considered.

The Journal is published quarterly by the American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management, 11240 Waples Mill Road, Ste. 200, Fairfax, VA 22030. Opinions expressed in this publication represent the viewpoint of each author, and do not necessarily reflect the policy of AAHAM. Advertisements do not necessarily imply sponsorship by AAHAM. Subscriptions are included with AAHAM membership. Reprints are available from the National Office in portable document format (PDF) for a $75 fee per article. Prepayment is required.

© Copyright 2012 by the American Association ofHealthcare Administrative Management.

www.aaham.org

Christine Stottlemyer

4 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

I can’t believe we are finally in the middle of summer. What an up and down couple of months with the weather and other natural disasters. One thing, however, that

remains consistent (consistently good that is), is our National organization, good and strong! We continue to offer personal growth opportunities in terms of educational and certification webinars. And, many of our chapters are holding regional conferences and programs and celebrating monumental milestones. We will be recognizing these chapters in a variety of ways. Stay tuned!

Your Executive Board and Committee Chairs just had a leadership retreat in July where much planning and brainstorming took place. I look forward to sharing some of the information and ideas with you over the next few months. One thing I am going to change right now, however, is my use of the words “leadership retreat.” Retreat is defined by Webster’s in the following manner: “to withdraw or to draw back.” We are all about moving forward, so this will officially be the last time I refer to any of our meetings as a “retreat!” If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them. Should I get any suggestions, I will know you are reading your Journal!

Information has been going out at a steady pace regarding the ANI being held in Bonita Springs, Florida, October 17-19. We have two really phenomenal keynote speak-ers as well as the always popular, Paul Miller. You have received the email blasts, and you probably received your beautiful brochure. What are you waiting for? Sign up now! Registrations are coming in quickly. The educational and networking opportunities are in plentiful. And, we have a few surprises in store for you as well. You won’t want to miss this year’s event.

Don’t forget the Bill Spare National Recognition award. Is there someone in your chapter who has made a difference in our organization? Now would be the time to rec-ognize and nominate them for this very prestigious award which will be presented at the ANI.

And speaking of recognizing, don’t forget your staff members. October 15-20 is Pa-tient Account Management (PAM) Week. I know several organizations hold celebrations every day of the week, but tokens of appreciation are also nice. Those can be found on the AAHAM website.

Since it’s summer, I’ll keep my letter short. However, like my last letter, I’ll conclude by encouraging you to take an active role with AAHAM. Be on the cutting edge; help shape the future of the healthcare industry. Make the commitment today! Become certi-fied! Join me at the ANI!

Best regards, Chris

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6 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

July 30, marked the 100 day mark until we go to the polls and vote to see which

party will control Congress for the next two years and the White House for the next four years. With the way things have been going in Washington the past several years, you might think it doesn’t matter who’s in charge because nothing ever gets done. On some level you would be right, but on a more practical level you could not be more wrong. This election cycle will be a defining moment for the direction of the country. It has been a bitter two-year’s since the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was passed and signed into law by President Obama. During this process our politics has gone from mean and nasty to downright ugly and destructive.

In the short term, this ugliness is going to continue up through the elections. This year’s elections will be about direction. For the Democrats it will be about pushing for-ward with implementation of the PPACA. For the Republicans, it will mean a contin-ued push to repeal the PPACA and imple-ment it with a more market based approach. Both may seem non newsworthy, but I can assure you, healthcare will be at the forefront for both sides in the next Congress and why AAHAM needs to continue to be out front on these issues. It is an ugly process right now, but I do see potential for a light at the end of the tunnel.

I say this because we are at the proverbial wall right now and there is no kicking the can any further. What does this mean? Well, for one thing, it means 2013 is going to be a very busy legislative year. We have a huge backlog of issues that have been piling up. Congress and the President will have to begin wheeling and dealing to get things done. For the Presi-dent, it is critical for his legacy. Even with the passage of the PPACA and the killing of

Osama Bin Laden, the President needs more to secure his place in history. If the Republi-cans are able to capture the Senate, they will be forced to prove to the American people that they are able to govern and this means getting things done. None of this will be easy. Before we can get to 2013, we need to go through what is about to become a nuclear election cycle we have not seen before.

This year’s elections could go down in history as the meanest and most expensive in history. There will be bruised egos on both sides and those feelings do not disappear overnight. I expect partisan wrangling to take place in the new Congress, as it always does. I also expect that both sides will see the American people will no longer continue to give them a pass by holding things up. We have seen an angry electorate and we have seen just how powerful they can be when they organize and vote. No elected official will want to spend the next two years try-ing to defend an obstructionist mentality when people continue to struggle to find jobs; when people struggle to stay in their homes; when people struggle to put food on the table for their family; and when states are forced to make tough choices due to escalat-ing budget deficits. Voters simply won’t take anymore of this “do nothing” mentality we have going on in Washington right now. I believe voters, already pushed to the brink, will decide to simply throw them all out and start over if things don’t change. I think for any politician, the prospects of this happen-ing may force them into a corner and force them to take those tough votes or at a mini-mum, standup and be the leaders we expect them to be. Either way, I see 2013 as the be-ginning of an opportunity to get some things done. Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying both sides will join hands and forget all the back stabbing that has taken place over the

past several years, but I don think you have smart leaders on both sides who will try and cut deals to get some things done, if for no other reason than to protect their own jobs and ambitions. I see 2013 as that year.

I learned early in this profession that you never over promise and if you do prom-ise something you better be able to deliver. So, I feel very comfortable saying today that if you were expecting healthcare to fall into the background now that the Supreme Court has ruled on the PPACA, you would be wrong. I can say confidently that health-care will once again be front and center in the next Congress.

If the Republicans are able to capture the White House, the first thing Mitt Rom-ney has said, is he would repeal “Obam-acare.” This would be easier said than done. If, on the other hand, the Republican’s fail to capture the White House, but take control of both the House and the Senate (which I believe to be a more likely scenario) then you can expect continued votes to either do away with the PPACA or attempts to alter it significantly. This becomes easier in the House as Republicans should still have a siz-able margin to pass such legislation. It would be harder to do in the Senate because the Republicans would need the help of some Democrats to get the sixty votes needed to make any such vote veto proof. Again, easier said than done. If however, we continue with the status quo of President Obama oc-cupying the White House, Speaker Boehner and the Republicans controlling the House and Majority Leader Reid and the Demo-crats holding an even slimmer majority in the Senate then we may have to revisit how productive 2013 will be.

A lot of pundits thought once the Su-preme Court ruled, everything would sort

Paul A. Miller, PLC, Lobbyist

washington wire

Continued on page 7

100 Days and Counting

itself out on the healthcare front. Far from it. I think the Supreme Court’s ruling only sets us up for another long battle of how to curb skyrocketing healthcare costs. You didn’t think the debate over the PPACA would go away that easily did you?

Both sides, including the President, ad-mit changes need to be made to the PPACA. Therefore, we can expect more healthcare hearings, more healthcare votes, and prob-ably even more healthcare lawsuits challeng-ing states decisions to implement or not im-plement certain pieces of the PPACA. This is why it is going to be critical to work with both sides of the aisle heading into 2013 on healthcare related issues critical to AAHAM members.

Let’s look at some of the areas where we are likely to see party line battles in the next Congress. First, look at Medicaid. The Supreme Court’s ruling the expansion of Medicaid is optional and not a mandate, puts this issue at the forefront of issues to be resolved in the next Congress. States al-ready strapped for revenue, have to decide if they will expand the program to cover more or change their program to cover less. As a politician, this is one issue that is always risky. On one side of the spectrum, you have had several Republican Governors come out against expanding Medicaid and others on the Democratic side who have decided to follow the President’s lead and will expand their programs. For those who oppose the PPACA because of its cost you more, you will be happy to hear that not requiring states to expand Medicaid will save tax-payers $84 billion over the next decade. The bad news here is the Congressional Budget Office expects there will be 3 million fewer people getting benefits due to the Supreme Court’s ruling. This means someone will have to pick up their healthcare costs if they cannot afford to on their own. If states won’t cover the cost, the responsibility will fall on the Federal government, which could mean another fierce battle in Congress.

Now let’s move onto the government exchanges, which the PPACA requires states to implement. Again, you have quite a few Governors saying they don’t care what the

Supreme Court ruling is, they refuse to setup insurance exchanges in their states. Oklaho-ma is one state that has said it has no plans to help sign people up for benefits under the PPACA. Oklahoma has a history of buck-ing Washington on issues like this and they appear to be ready to do it on this issue as well. Oklahoma has an independent streak; it doesn’t make residents comply with car in-surance laws, so there is no way they are go-ing to force residents to buy health insurance. Oklahoma isn’t alone; there are quite a few other states that have taken similar stands. What does this all mean then? Well, if states refuse to set up the exchanges, it will force the Federal government to step in and create the exchanges for them. It will also mean tax-payers will have to cover those costs.

So, as you can see there are still a lot of unknowns with the PPACA and don’t expect those unknowns to change anytime soon. I predict we will have even more un-knowns as the timelines approach for other pieces of the PPACA to be implemented.

These are a couple of the big items I ex-pect to be on the agenda in 2013. These are the ones that will continue to keep the parti-san bickering alive and well. I do think there are opportunities for real bi-partisanship. One of those issues which has bi-partisan support is changing the Telephone Con-sumer Protection Act (TCPA). This change is critical for so many reasons we discussed

during Legislative Day, but it is a revenue raiser. Our deficits are continuing to grow and sequestration is getting ready to kick in next year. Congress and the Administration are looking for ways to generate extra rev-enue to help get us out of this fiscal mess. One way to do that would be to support AAHAM and a bi-partisan group in chang-ing the TCPA. Something as simple and as bi-partisan as this, would generate billions of dollars each year for the Federal govern-ment. I won’t tell you this change will solve all our problems, but this issue is one of many that would help us generate the added revenue the government needs immediately.

Things will move fast next year and AA-HAM needs to be ready. We have some big tasks yet to complete and the biggest right now is making changes to the TCPA. With your continued support we will see success. Get your walking shoes ready as we will need you out in Washington in the Spring to participate in Legislative Day. We can’t rely on our elected officials to do the right thing, they will still need a nudge or kick in the pants from you.

Healthcare will be on the agenda in 2013 and we have no time to take a break just because it’s an election year. Are you ready?

Hear Mr. Miller at the AAHAM ANI clos-ing session. He can be reached at pmiller@mwcapitol.com

washington wirecontinued from page 6

Summer 2012 7

8 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

By Rob BorchertPresident Best Practice Associates, LLC

Member of the AAHAM Virginia chapter

We all hear about Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) today. They

are becoming a code that many of us ig-nore, don’t believe it will impact us or we are in an ACO and awaiting outcomes to show success and sustainability. The concept of the ACO is one that has lead to much discussion since its initial presentation by the Federal Government. The original/ini-tial intent of an ACO was to formulate cost containment through the inter-relationships of physicians and hospitals. As this relation-ship was established and cost containment practices were put into place, there would be a financial benefit (from the Shared Medi-care Fund) once the reduction of costs was presented and verified.

The modifications from the first gov-ernment presentation to become an ACO and abide by the complicated reporting and adhering to the quantity of quality measures now makes it more appealing to the health-care community to strongly consider forming an ACO. There is less reporting requirements and down to thirty-two quality measures. The expectation is there will be a very high increase in the formation of ACOs over the next two years. In April 2012, CMS picked twenty–seven ACO participants for the shared-savings program. This is the initial list:• AccountableCareCoalition ofCaldwell

County, LLC

• Accountable Care Coalition of CoastalGeorgia

• Accountable Care Coalition of EasternNorth Carolina, LLC

• Accountable Care Coalition of GreaterAthens Georgia

• Accountable Care Coalition of MountKisco, LLC

• AccountableCareCoalitionoftheMissis-sippi Gulf Coast, LLC

• AccountableCareCoalitionoftheNorthCountry, LLC

• AccountableCareCoalitionofSoutheastWisconsin, LLC

• AccountableCareCoalitionofTexas,Inc.• AHSACO,LLC• AppleCareMedicalACO,LLC• ArizonaConnectedCare,LLC• Chinese Community Accountable Care

Organization• CIPAWesternNewYorkIPA,doingbusi-

ness as Catholic Medical Partners• CoastalCarolinaQualityCare,Inc.• CrystalRunHealthcareACO,LLC• FloridaPhysiciansTrust,LLC• Hackensack Physician-Hospital Alliance

ACO, LLC• Jackson Purchase Medical Associates,

PSC• JordanCommunityACO• NorthCountryACO• OptimusHealthcarePartners,LLC• PhysiciansofCapeCodACO• PremierACOPhysicianNetwork• PrimaryPartners,LLC• RGVACOHealthProviders,LLC• WestFloridaACO,LLC

These healthcare entities were the first ACOs officially approved by CMS. They represent over 10,000 physicians, 10 hos-pitals and 12 smaller physician-led entities who will serve over an estimated 375,000 Medicare beneficiaries. Now this seems like the meaningful intent of the ACO model. What we need to be aware of is the “history repeat itself ” model of third party insur-ance companies becoming strongly involved in this ACO model. I say that “tongue in cheek”, since it is already happening. The major players are looking to the ACO model to play a growing role as health plans try to rein in costs and direct quality and clinical goals. They also see opportunities in man-aging care for Medicare and Medicaid dual eligibles. Here are some real examples:• Aetna: Look for more expansion in the

health plan’s ACO business which cur-rently has nine contracts including Car-ilion Clinic (Roanoke, Virginia), Sharp Community Medical Group (San Diego, California) and Cleveland Clinic (Cleve-land, Ohio) and six letters of intent. This relationship even goes beyond the Medi-care population. Effective July 1, Aetna has been awarded the administrative services contract for Maine’s 33,000 em-ployees and their dependents. It plans to develop a statewide ACO network for this membership

• CIGNA: They acquired HealthSpring, a Medicare plan in 2011, and is preparing an ACO model to include dual eligibles. It is also expanding its participation in ac-countable care organizations with 17 ini-

Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs):

SaviorSnake?or a

Are They a

tiatives underway in 15 states.• Humana: Like CIGNA, Humana intends

to be a major player in the dual-eligibles market. Its strategy is to take state-by-state approach to opportunities. Humana has focused on developing a nationwide footprint for its Medicare Advantage and faces little competition in many of its markets. This is an excellent partnering opportunity when discussing future plans with an ACO.

• UnitedHealthGroup: They have stated employers are very focused on value-based benefit design for employees and its con-sumer based health plans have done well in that marketplace with about 15% of its membership in value-based products. The company has several pilots in place around bundled payments in its com-mercial and Medicare business. The fo-cus is on aligning the bundles with the right clinical programs and the right in-centives. This is the new insight into the ACO model for non-Medicare members. In addition, United Health sees the dual eligibles market as a major opportunity.

• WellPoint: WellPoint has several ACO pilot and medical home programs that involve more than 100,000 members and more than $240 million in shared savings. The medical home program in Colorado posted an 18% decrease in acute inpatient admission over the first 2 years and a 15% reduction in emergency room visits. In the first year of its ACO partnership with the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Cen-ter in New Hampshire, inpatient admis-sions and avoidable ER visits declined.

Everyone major insurance company is becoming a strong player in this new model and this could change the fact of healthcare access as we know it. If the major insurance companies focus on their strongest markets and offer very attractive plans to employers and other members with restricted service at only “in-network” facilities, what will hap-pen to competition; what will happen to those of us who do not have that plan, what will happen to the smaller insurers in that

market? Only the future will tell us.As this ACO model develops across

the various geographic areas of this coun-try, there are some questions that will need to be addressed. We recognize the intent of cost savings and in some cases have already achieved some demonstrative savings but there are other potential concerns that may need to be addressed moving forward:

1. Anti-trust: The question of joint negotia-tion of contracts between physicians as well as between hospitals; and addressing what about physicians who may work at differ-ent hospitals that are not part of the ACO?

2. Stark/anti-kickback: Will this law have any effect on the ACOs approach to re-ward physicians if quality is maintained and cost savings achieved?

3. Tax-exempt providers: In the ACO en-vironment, if clinically integrated, is the sharing of the cost savings a violation of any current tax laws?

4. State Insurance regulation: If ACOs be-come their own insurer for services ren-dered and assume the financial risk under the reimbursement structure, will they have the financial capability to assume that risk is they experience a high volume of very expensive care patients?

5. Medical malpractice: ACO structure /practices/procedures may prevent costs from decreasing due to “defensive medi-cine”.

6. Health benefit (insurance exchanges): How will these state exchanges fit into the ACO structure is they are a third party owned ACO?

Only the future will tell, but I hope this reflection on ACOs have been helpful for both existing ACOs and for those who are contemplating being involve with an ACO. n

Mr. Borchert can be reached at 315.345.5208 and rob@bpa-consulting.com

Summer 2012 9

By Kathy B. Dempsey, CSP,President of Keep Shedding Inc.

Why do 75% of all change efforts fail? Largely because people feel left out

of the process and lack the motivation, skills and knowledge to adapt to the new systems, processes and procedures. According to Gal-lup’s calculations, actively disengaged em-ployees cost the American economy up to $350 billion per year in lost productivity.

No organization thrives unless their people learn how to “shed.” To stay competi-tive, employers must arm their teams with the necessary skills and positive attitudes. Negativity, like an infectious virus, siphons precious energy and productivity. Discover how you can seize the power of change in your organization by utilizing these five ways to overcome negativity, improve pro-ductivity and ignite your people to shed.1. Help them attach to something new. Hu-

mans have a natural tendency to attach to familiar people, processes and products. Remember back when you were a child and someone took away your lollipop. You probably screamed and cried and thought your life as a four year old had come to an end. Minutes later, in the heat of your temper tantrum, someone handed you a cuddly teddy bear and immediately your eyes lit up and you stopped crying. The lollipop? Who cares? Life was good! You were now attached to your new bear. This strategy works similar for work teams.

How can you get people excited about the change (the cuddly new teddy bear) so they shed their attachment to their current lollipop quickly? Help them attach to what they will gain from the change? Time? Ef-ficiency? A new skill? Watch resistance to change evaporate as you uncover ways to help people attach to something new.

2. Shrink the change. Dan & Chip Heath discuss this in their book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard. Too much, too fast or too big of a change will overwhelm and paralyze a workforce. If the proposed change is perceived as insurmountable, people will shut down and give up before you even get out of the gate. Shrink the change down to bite-size digestible pieces by providing a more achievable goal. If your target is to im-prove productivity by 50% this year, con-sider a more realistic goal of 5% monthly. To keep peak motivation, don’t forget to publically recognize and celebrate short term wins. Momentum is vital for sus-tainable results.

3. Give the goal with choices. My mom was not in executive leadership but she knew the value of this strategy extremely well. Her goal? A clean house. Choices? “Kathy, do you want to take out the trash or do the dishes?” I didn’t want to do either but somehow I was more motivated because I had a choice in my household chores. Likewise, employees’ motivation soars if they are given more control over a situa-tion. Peter Bragman, from Harvard Busi-

ness Review, offers another slant on this tip. Give the desired outcome, and then suggest the path. Allow people to reject the path as long as they chose an alternate route to the same destination.

4. Eliminate the fear. While working at a healthcare system years ago, the CEO an-nounced to all 4000 employees that they were going through tremendous change. He said anyone who came up with an innovative idea to save time or money, even if it changed or eliminated their job, would have a place to work somewhere in the system. The CEO eliminated the em-ployees’ fear of losing their jobs. 95% of people say fear is the #1 barrier holding them back at work and in life. You might not be able to guarantee 100% job secu-rity, but how can you build strategies that eliminate as much fear as possible?

5. Create a sense of urgency. Spark motiva-tion for change with open and honest communication. Talk about what’s hap-pening in your industry and with your competition. Discuss the trends, the facts, and the consequences for team members and the organization if change doesn’t oc-cur. Without cooperation or buy-in your change efforts will fail. By stimulating peo-ple to talk and think, you’ll propel them to move out of denial or anger. Urgency provides the fire to ignite teams to get on board with the exciting possibilities. n

Ms. Dempsey, CSP can be reached at www.KeepShedding.com

PowerChange:

10 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

Seize the

of

Five Proven Ways to Overcome Negativity, Improve Productivity and Ignite People

Summer 2012 11

12 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

TechnicianBy Maya Mohan, CPAM, FHFMAExecutive Vice President of Operations,

AGS Health , Member and President of the Chennai chapter

I have been working in the United States healthcare Industry for the past twenty

years. There have been so many changes throughout these years. Of all the changes that I have seen, Compliance is something that has taken huge precedence over many other issues. Technological advancements further increase the need for heavy-duty compliance despite all the additional regula-tory requirements.

A decade ago, we did not have Com-prehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) or Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) con-ducting stringent audits on reimbursements made. Now mistakes can be very costly. The civil monetary penalties imposed can range anywhere between $2000 and $100,000.

That said, when we hire new staff, it is mandatory for them to be compliant with all the regulations applicable to us. After all, all violations would warrant penalties whether committed by a junior employee or by the CEO!

I have been a member of AAHAM for the past eight years. It has been a very inter-esting journey. Through these years, I have been training and conducting AAHAM’s technical and professional certifications across various billing companies.

AAHAM has been offering Technical

certification exams since 1992. Technical certifications test the basic knowledge re-quired to work in the “front end” of hos-pitals and clinics. I always wanted (and needed) certification that would test the compliance knowledge of my staff. Certified Compliance Technician (CCT) fits the bill perfectly. It tests the examinees on various acts and laws and “must know” information for all the staff working in healthcare billing offices, hospitals and clinics.

The AAHAM CCT exam covers vari-ous topics like fraud, abuse, compliance guidance given by Office of Inspector Gen-eral (OIG), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Clini-cal Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), Operation Restore Trust (ORT), Anti-Kickback statute, Physician Incentive Payments, Health Care Quality Improve-ment Program (HCQIP), task forces ofFBI that takes care of healthcare fraud, De-partment of Justice (DOJ), Civil Monetary Penalties and provider self-disclosure. The course curriculum does not stop with only the acts and statutes. It also gets into real-time examples, tools and best practices that are followed by other organizations.

When a person prepares for the AA-HAM CCT certification, they receive diverse exposure to the industry. They get to learn the “dos and don’ts” and also the penalties they will be liable to pay if they cross the line. This profound understanding of the laws and the industry would result in less numbers of compliance violations in organizations.

After all, compliance awareness is inversely proportional to the number of compliance violations! Any hospital, clinic or a pharmacy would be comfortable to work with a billing office which has demonstrated a higher de-gree of compliance awareness and training by achieving an AAHAM CCT designation.

CCT adds value to the organization as well as to the individual who takes the exam. It, first of all, enriches the resume of the per-son. Any healthcare organization would be happy to hire a person with such a certifica-tion compared to someone without it or who has to be trained from the beginning. It shows them the way to be model citizens in the in-dustry. Some companies use certifications to promote employees into leadership roles.

CCT is a good continuous learning ini-tiative. It helps in benchmarking staff based on their competence and compliance orien-tation. I have tried this in my organization and it has worked well.

Are you interested in certifying yourself and your staff too? The AAHAM CCT ex-ams are held in conjunction with the other technical certification exams; February, May, August and November. All you need is just one year of healthcare billing expe-rience. Log on to www.aaham.org to regis-ter or find out more. Many local AAHAM chapters including the Chennai chapter of-fer coaching sessions to help you, visit www.aahamchennai.org .to know more. n

Ms. Mohan can be reached at maya@aaham-chennai.org and maya.mohan@agshealth.com

Benefits of

(CCT) Certification

CertifiedCompliance

Summer 2012 13

14 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

By Dean MittsSite Director, Frisco National Insurance Center,

Conifer Health Solutions, Member of the Texas Bluebonnet chapter

We all knew the federal mandate re-quiring clearinghouses and providers

to upgrade their current HIPAA 4010 trans-action standards to the new 5010 standards was coming on January, 1, 2012. Now, both Providers and Payers are experiencing challenges with the new changes. Providers spent many hours updating and testing their claims creation processes to accommodate the new 5010 billing requirements. Payers were doing the same on their side to con-vert from 4010 to 5010 processing formats. Some Payers are still running “dual process-ing” until they finalize their conversions.

Now we are working the problems from all angles as they surface. Are you experienc-ing more payer rejections in your EDI de-partments? Is your billing team seeing more rebill request than normal? Are you calling on claims and finding an increased number of claims not on file? These are just a few ques-tions many Revenue Cycle Operators are veri-fying in their operations on a regular basis. It’s a good thing you are. You’re most likely see-ing some inflated numbers. When you drill down to the root cause, you may find that in the first few months of 2012, it’s very possible

they are related to the 5010 changes. As you start “working the problem,”

you may have realized if the claim goes di-rectly from your Billing Editor to one clear-inghouse and then to the payer, it is been much easier and timelier to get a permanent solution in place. However if you have to work your way through the “maze of inter-mediaries” it becomes very problematic.

The biggest 5010 challenge you may be experiencing is a result of the lack of single thread responsibility and contacts through the flow of claims from the claim editor to the payer. In most cases there are one or more claim intermediaries between the claims editor and the payer.

Each entity has a person/team that was responsible for 5010 changes with the next entity in the delivery chain but the same person/team is not involved in the 5010 changes with the next entity in the chain. In the majority of the claim intermediary organizations, there is a team responsible for incoming claims/837s and a different team responsible for outgoing claims/837s and in most cases these teams, are not tuned into what specific changes the other team has made or what 5010 type issues the other is experiencing or having reported to them.

This lack of a single cohesive 5010 in-bound/outbound team at each intermediary has caused significant delays in getting 5010 claim issues correctly communicated, in the

hands of the correct resolution party and of course in getting the issue completely resolved.

The next biggest 5010 challenge, which most providers have not yet encountered but will shortly, is with the processing of payer v5010 835s. Most payer 835s come through a single entity and because these entities 5010 plan was to focus on 837s, there has been minimal testing on the v5010 835s. This could have a negative impact on the 04.01.2012 compliance enforcement date.

As changes continue to take shape in healthcare, we will all continue modify our processes to meet the needs of the business. Adaptability is a required characteristic of a good Revenue Cycle leader. The transition from 4010 to v5010 is just another chal-lenge we as providers, payers and clearing-houses will need to overcome in our evolv-ing healthcare industry.

Nevertheless, it is important that we keep in mind the two key factors that are driving the 5010 upgrade, which are the governments’ and industries’ shared goal of providing higher quality, lower cost health care; and the need for a comprehensive elec-tronic data exchange environment for the expanded ICD-10-CM and PCS code set transition mandated for compliance by Oc-tober 1, 2013. n

Mr. Mitts can be reached at 214.387.6764 and Dean.Mitts@ConiferHealth.com

5010ConversionChallenges

October 17-19, 2012Hyatt Regency Coconut Point

Bonita Springs, Florida

American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management

Speakers & ScheduleSpeakers & Schedule

16 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

Jan McInnisLearning doesn’t have to be boring! Professional speak-er, Jan McInnis has spent the last fifteen plus years as a speaker, comedian, trainer and comedy writer. She has won numerous awards and has spoken to hundreds of organizations, including the Mayo Clinic, the Health Information Association, the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric & Neonatal Nurses, Aventis Pharma-ceuticals and many more. Jan has a knack for finding humorous analysis in the typical challenges of the work day. She has been featured in the “Wall Street Journal” as one of the top business comedians. She goes by the nick-name, “The Work Lady” because she spent her extensive pre-comedy career as a corporate marketing executive. Jan knows change. Not only has she worked with orga-nizations involved in major change, she made one her-self when she left her marketing career and headed into the uncertain world of entertainment. The tips and tools she used in her journey will help you deal with change, whether it’s on the job or in your personal life, and laugh-ing all the way! View her video at www.theworklady.com, her blog at www.comedywritingblog.com or become a Facebook fan at www.janfans.com.

Christina ThielstChristina Thielst, MHA, FACHE is Vice President at Tower Strategies. Her firsthand experience with the challenges and barriers to effective com-munications and collaboration have shaped her vision for social media technologies, in her book “Social Media in Healthcare: Connect, Com-municate, Collaborate.” Leveraging almost thirty years experience on the front lines of healthcare delivery as a hospital administrator and consul-tant; she helps guide large, complex healthcare institutions as they posi-tively transform their patient experience, as perceived by the patient. Christina understands how technology can enhance experiences and integrate seamlessly across the continuum of interactions. As a high-ly respected thought leader and published writer she envisions the ap-plication of new and emerging technologies that providers can leverage as solutions to patient care and workplace challenges. Links to most of her published work, including her book Social Media in Healthcare: Con-nect Communicate Collaborate can be found on her personal weblog. http://thielst.typepad.com. Christina received a Bachelor’s degree in So-cial Science/Management from Louisiana State University and a Masters of Health Administration from Tulane University, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. She is a Fellow in the American College of Health-care Executives and a member of Health Care Executives of Southern California, Health Information Management Systems Society, American Telemedicine Association and the National Rural Health Resource Cen-ter’s HIT/Telehealth Key Informant Group.

Paul Miller, PLCPaul is a founding partner in the Government Af-fairs firm, Miller/Wenhold Capitol Strategies, LLC. He has vast experience in the lobbying profession and introduced the first lobbying certificate pro-gram designed to help lobbyists keep pace with the profession and its standards. He led the suc-cessful fight to bring changes to the electronic filing system for lobbyists to comply and meet their obligations under federal law and allows the general public an opportunity to view lobbying re-ports online in real time. Paul was also instrumental in shaping the de-bate on lobbying reform in 2006 and 2007. He has been a tireless champion in the fight to protect

every citizen’s right to petition their government through lobbying activities. Paul has traveled abroad to talk and meet with foreign leaders about their efforts to implement lobbying rules and reg-ulations and has appeared on many national news programs discussing ethics and transparency is-sues. Paul is the co-founder of the Virginia Small Business Partnership; a statewide policy group fo-cused on the needs of small businesses. Paul cur-rently serves on his alma mater’s Deans Advisory Board at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater and was named to the Board of Directors of the Fairfax Partnership for Youth.

Keynote SpeakersKeynote Speakers

Summer 2012 17

Rhonda Bankester, RN, CPUR, CMAS, ICQCI

Ms. Bankester is Vice President, Clinical Revenue Cycle Services, at Conifer HIM/Clinical Revenue Cycle Services. Ms. Bank-ester leads a national team of revenue cycle clinicians performing retrospective review of clinical denials and appeals and precer-tification activities. She also leads a team of credentialed coders focused on timely, accurate and quality coding to ensure op-timal revenue cycle performance. Prior to joining the company, she managed case managers and utilization review nurses in the managed care industry.

Virginia Berney, CPAM, CCAMMs. Berney is Program Head for the Medi-cal Billing and Coding Department and an instructor at Anthem College in Minne-sota. Her career has included running both operations and the billing office for an ur-gent care facility and as a Coding Educator Analyst. Virginia has been an active mem-ber of the AAHAM Gopher chapter and has held numerous board positions.

Douglas J. BilbreyMr. Bilbrey is Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at the SSI Group. Pre-viously, he worked as the Applications De-velopment Manager, as well as a Senior Sys-tems Analyst.

Kelley BlairMs. Blair is Vice President of Professional Services for Craneware, Inc. She helps hospitals manage revenue cycle strategy projects by providing operations insights, best practices, performance improvement methods and measurement tools. Ms. Blair has more than 13 years of revenue cycle operations management and performance improvement experience and is also a cer-tified Six Sigma Black Belt and experience using Lean and Focus PDCA improve-ment methodologies in complex integrated health systems. She holds a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership with a focus on strategic management.

Catherine Colyer, EsquireMs. Colyer is Corporate Counsel; Compli-ance Officer/Privacy Officer for Alliance Collection Agencies, Inc. and Healthcare Business Services, Inc. She represents healthcare providers and focuses on regu-latory compliance. She received a Bach-elor’s Degree in English and in Political Sci-ence, with honors, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She graduated from the University Of Virginia School Of Law and began working in healthcare law in Washington, D.C., and has also worked as a healthcare consultant.

Angelica Del Villar, CPATMs. Del Villar is the Registration Lead Representative for the Emergency Regis-tration Department at Presbyterian Inter-community Hospital. She has over twenty years experience working in the front end healthcare field. She led staff as they tran-sitioned into a successful point of service department for the organization.

Margaret DowlingMs. Dowling is a Senior Revenue Cycle Consultant for PNC Healthcare. Her areas of expertise include automated cash post-ing, healthcare collections, cash reconcili-ation, streamlining healthcare collection business processes, EOB conversion and denial and contract management. She graduated with honors from Bryn Mawr College and holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Mississippi. She is an AF-PCertified Treasury Professional.

Christine Fontaine, CHFP, CPAMMs. Fontaine is the Vice President of Rev-enue Cycle Solutions for OptumInsight. Previously, Christine was the Director of Revenue Cycle Operations for a large Uni-versity medical system. Christine has been in the healthcare finance field for over twenty years, in both physician and hos-pital business offices. She has held several management positions and directed all facets of Revenue Cycle Operations in her experience in healthcare.

Linda Fotheringill, EsquireMs. Fotheringill is a founding member of Washington & West, LLC, and is a nation-ally recognized expert on Denial and Ap-peals Management. Linda assists hospitals across the country, overturning denials. She has represented clients in insurance contract disputes and medical malpractice litigation. Ms. Fotheringill began her career as a hospital-based Physician Assistant in the areas of general surgery, oncology, neu-rosurgery and trauma. She also had four-teen years of experience in the insurance industry as a claims representative.

Lea Fourkiller, EsquireMs. Fourkiller is Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer for Conifer Health Solu-tions Inc. She is responsible for leading the valuesbased ethics and compliance program for the company’s more than 3,500 employ-ees. Prior, Ms. Fourkiller served as a Regional Compliance Director, where she oversaw the compliance programs at thirteen hospi-tals, as well as the Compliance Officer for a multi hospital system. Ms. Fourkiller earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Tulsa/College of Law and is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association.

James S. GandolfoMr. Gandolfo is Vice President Senior Con-sultant Treasury Consulting Group, PNC. He provides support to both industry and PNC’s Treasury Management profession-als related to comprehensive solutions for commercial payments, receivables and in-formation management. Previously he was with PNC Global Investment Servicing. His experience also includes a long tenure as President and CEO of a registered broker-dealer. Jim has is BS degree in both political science and history from Radford Univer-sity. He holds a variety of FINRA licenses, including Series 6, 7, 24 and 63. Jim is chair-man of the American Bankers Association’s HSA Council and a member of the board of directors of the HSA Coalition.

General Session SpeakersGeneral Session SpeakersNew Altitudes are achieved with these featured speakers:

18 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

John B. Garver, III, EsquireMr. Garver is a partner with the law firm of Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A. His practice includes work in joint ventures, healthcare and insurance law. In the health-care law area, he regularly advises clients on compliance and regulatory issues, in-cluding the federal Anti-Kickback and Stark laws. He has a broad transactional health-care practice, including assisting hospitals and health systems, physicians and their practices, dialysis providers and dental practices in acquisitions, affiliations, joint ventures and ownership transfers.

Brent GrimesMr. Grimes is the Administrative Director of Patient Financial Services for INTEGRIS Health. He has over sixteen years experi-ence in the healthcare field. He has worked in nursing home administration, pharma-ceutical sales, home health, hospice, DME and revenue cycle management. Grimes currently works with the Administration, CFO’s and Revenue Cycle Leadership at INTEGRIS Health, as well as serves on sev-eral committees and community boards to improve the health and services to the communities that INTEGRIS serves.

Nicole GuidoMs. Guido is the Regional Vice President of Sales for Adreima. Nicole began her career as a Registration Clerk in an Emergency Department. She now has over twenty years of experience as a Revenue Cycle professional, which include twelve years working at the Director level, for providers. The last several years Nicole has assisted Revenue Cycle professionals with consult-ing, software solutions, and outsourcing services. Nicole is active in HFMA both at the local and regional levels.

Susan Gutjhar, BS, RHIT, CCS, CPCSusan is the Health Information Technol-ogy Director for Sparta Community Hos-pital. Her current duties include direction of the HIM, Reimbursement, and Utiliza-tion Review Departments which includes implementation of the EMR in the hospi-tal and numerous physician clinics. Susan is also the Compliance Officer, Privacy

Officer, and a Six Sigma Black Belt. She is a member of AHIMA and AAPC. Su-san is also adjunct faculty for Southwest-ern Illinois College where she is currently teaching ICD-10 Anatomy and Physiology classes. She holds a BS in Organizational Leadership

Dan Hobbs, CPAMMr. Hobbs is a Senior Consultant for QHR. He conducts assessments and implements best practices in the areas of patient fi-nancial services and patient access man-agement. He has nearly three decades of healthcare experience and has worked with hospitals of various sizes to improve cash and accounts receivable perfor-mance, reduce bad debt, reduce denials and improve the quality of front-end pro-cesses. Mr. Hobbs also conducts seminars and workshops for hospitals on a variety of financial management topics.

Steven Honeywell, MBA, CCAM, CPAM

Mr. Honeywell is the Senior Director of Pro-fessional Fee Billing for the University of Pennsylvania Health System. He has twen-ty-six years experience in physician billing, the majority of which has been in an execu-tive level position at UPHS responsible for running the centralized Physician Billing Office that service over 1,000 physicians (Primary Care and Specialists). Steven is an active participant in several professional organizations that include the Board of Di-rectors for the Philadelphia Chapter of AA-HAM, the Advisory Group for the Faculty Practice Solutions Center (part of the Asso-ciation of Academic Medical Centers), PNC Healthcare Advisory Board and a leader of the Academic Practice Plan Associate Di-rectors organization. Steven holds an un-dergraduate degree in Public Health from Rutgers University and a MBA in Healthcare Administration from LaSalle University.

Stephen HovanMr. Hovan is Executive Director of Patient Fiscal Services for the University of Ten-nessee Medical Center. Mr. Hovan oversees the revenue cycle operations for the hos-pital and has assisted in transforming the

revenue cycle. Prior, he served in similar positions for the last twentytwo years. Mr. Hovan holds a BS from Clarion University in Pennsylvania and a MBA from Indiana Wes-leyan University. He is an active member of Tennessee HFMA.

Jennifer Hutchens, EsquireMs. Hutchens is an associate at Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, PA. Jennifer practices in the area of corporate and commercial law, with an emphasis on joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions. As a mem-ber of the firm’s health law practice group, she consults with healthcare clients on regulatory and compliance matters at both the federal and state level, including the federal Anti-Kickback and Stark laws and HIPAA privacy and security. Her transac-tional healthcare work includes negotiat-ing provider joint ventures and hospital acquisitions and preparing physician re-cruitment, employment, and service con-tracts for physician practices and hospitals.

Cynamin Kinard, CPARMs. Kinard is the Director of Patient Finan-cial Services at Gwinnett Hospital System for nineteen years. Her responsibilities have expanded to include Patient Accounts. Cy-namin spent her entire career in Patient Ac-cess, where she was Director for six years. She has her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Shorter College. She is a past president of the Georgia Access Man-agement Association (GAMA) and received the Marian Blankenship Distinguished Ser-vice Award from the National Association of Healthcare Access Management (NA-HAM). She is also active in Georgia HFMA

Steve LevinMr. Levin is the CEO of Connance, Inc. He is a hospital revenue cycle expert focused on developing consumer-centric business offices. He has worked for more than a decade in healthcare revenue cycle and is a frequent presenter at events on improv-ing self-pay performance and the issues of charity eligibility. Mr. Levin has also au-thored numerous industry articles, and is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Har-vard Business School.

General Session SpeakersGeneral Session Speakers Continued

Summer 2012 19

Mark Mathia, MBAMr. Mathia is the CEO of Tiburon Financial, LLC. Mark has over twenty three years of experience in the collection industry. Mark has his undergraduate degree in Business Communications from Dana College and his MBA from Bellevue University. Mark has been a mentor to many and has shared his insights and been published in periodicals such as New Man Magazine and the Inside ARM Newsletter. Mark has created and leads an internal leadership development program at Tiburon and is a prolific blogger and communicator.

J. Kevin McKechnieMr. McKechnie serves concurrently as Exec-utive Director of the American Bankers In-surance Association and Executive Director of the American Bankers Association HSA Council, representing each group before Congress and the federal government. Mr. McKechnie is a nationally recognized ex-pert in insurance generally and health insur-ance in particular. He won the 2011 Public Policy Leadership Award from the Institute for Healthcare Consumerism. Mr. McKech-nie is also a principle in HSA Holdings, an organization of global healthcare financing experts, providing healthcare financing ex-pertise to several governments around the world. Previously, Mr. McKechnie was Gov-ernment Relations Representative for the Affinity Services Division of a large insur-ance services organization.

Michelle Moore, CPATMs. Moore is the Registration Supervisor for the Emergency Registration Depart-ment at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital. She has over twenty-two years of experience in Admitting/Registration functions with fourteen years in a leader-ship role. She has been with PIH for seven years working with the Emergency Regis-tration staff. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Azusa Pacific University.

Nancy Price, CPAMMs. Price is the Director of Patient Financial Services at Bacharach Institute for Reha-

bilitation. She has over twenty-eight years of healthcare experience including Registration, Accounts Receivable, Collections and Man-aging the Revenue Cycle process. Ms. Price is an active member of AAHAM and HFMA.

Glen Reiner, RNMr. Reiner is the Vice President for Clinical Operations at Adreima. Previously, Glen spent seven years as the Assistant Director of Nursing for a large healthcare corpora-tion. He has spent over sixteen years as a Registered Nurse, with many of these years specializing in Nurse Management. He has extensive knowledge of healthcare coding, billing, reimbursement, denials and RAC/MIC audits.

Mike Reppart, CHFPMr. Reppart is the Director of Business Services at Hendrick Medical Center. He oversees basic business office functions, the eligibility and charity programs, along with the hospital’s revenue budgeting and charge management activities. Mike is a graduate of Lubbock Christian University and holds a Master’s degree in Public Ad-ministration from Texas Tech University. With over thirty years’ experience on the healthcare management scene, Mike has experience in a variety of areas. From his beginnings as a Medicare Reimbursement Auditor to his current position, he has compiled a broad base of knowledge relat-ed to Revenue Cycle and Account Receiv-able Management.

Mark SammartanoMr. Sammartano is CEO of Blue Marsh Holdings, LLC. He is a results oriented healthcare executive with over twenty years of hands-on experience. He has served as an Officer for two healthcare sys-tems. Previously, Mr. Sammartano success-fully managed all aspects of revenue cycle management for 56 acute care hospitals in sixteen states.

Chuck SeviourMr. Seviour is the Vice President of Rev-enue Cycle Consulting for Array Services Inc. He has over thirty-nine years of health-

care industry experience. He is a member of AAHAM, HFMA and MGMA. Chuck served as Director of Business Office Op-erations for large health system for many years and has consulted at over 150 hos-pitals during his extensive career. Chuck is an experienced trainer and speaker and has served as a healthcare consultant for a major accounting firm specializing in rev-enue cycle, patient access, credit and col-lection, HIPAA and EMTALA.

Lyman G. SornbergerMr. Sornberger is the Executive Director of Revenue Cycle Management for the Cleve-land Clinic Health System. He is responsi-ble for the Revenue Cycle Management for all eleven Cleveland Clinic Health Systems and 1800 Foundation Physicians. His re-sponsibilities include CCHS Patient Access Services, Health Information Management and Billing. In total there are 1900 employ-ees under his direction with a model that is both centrally and decentrally dispersed. Previously, he was with a university medi-cal center for twenty-two years as a leader in their revenue cycle management.

Tanja TwistMs. Twist is the Director of Patient Finan-cial Services for Methodist Hospital, a 460 bed acute care facility in Southern Cali-fornia. Ms. Twist has over twenty years of healthcare management experience, in-cluding admitting manager for a large hos-pital and the manager of operations for a large cardiovascular medical group. Ms. Twist is an active member of AAHAM and is the President of the AAHAM Western Region chapter.

George V. Vancore, Jr.Mr. Vancore is an IT Systems Integrator/Business Architect at Florida Blue. George is responsible for the successful technical and business integration of regulatory mandates and compliance programs throughout the enterprise. This includes healthcare related federal, state and Blue Card regulatory man-dates and compliance programs. George holds an undergraduate degree in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics.

General Session SpeakersGeneral Session Speakers Continued

20 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

Judy Veazie, CPAM, CCTMs. Veazie has over thirty years of experi-ence in healthcare and has consulted ex-tensively on the Revenue Cycle including HIM, accounts receivable, admitting and charge master management. In addition to managing her role in Revenue Cycle Management, she has been the Editor for Aspen Press for the past nine years, edit-ing “The Biller” publication and writing a monthly column in “The Healthcare Col-lector.” Judy is an active AAHAM member and past President and Board Chair of the Evergreen chapter of AAHAM. Judy has ex-tensive teaching experience as an instruc-tor for Edmonds Community College and Lower Columbia College, with a concen-tration in Medical Office Practice and HIM curriculum for Distance Education. She graduated from Marylhurst University with a BS in Business and Management.

Gerard (Jerry) VittiMr. Vitti is President, CEO and Co-founder of Healthcare Financial, Inc. Mr. Vitti has over twenty-five years of healthcare entre-preneurial and business operations expe-

rience in complex and ever-changing en-vironments. He is a nationally recognized expert, speaker and author on receivables management, Medicaid and SSI enroll-ment, hospital revenue maximization and healthcare reform. Jerry is Past-President of the Massachusetts/Rhode Island chap-ter of HFMA and also a board member of the Massachusetts Health Council, mem-ber of the Massachusetts Association of Patient Account Management and a founding board member of the Long Term Care Finance Association.

Amanda Waesch, EsquireMs. Waesch is a Healthcare Attorney at Brennan, Manna & Diamond, LLC. She fo-cuses on advising healthcare providers in-cluding hospitals and physicians, on billing and reimbursement appeals and strategies, regulatory compliance, contracting and general corporate matters. She has person-ally handled Medicare appeals for hospi-tals, physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors, ambulatory surgery centers, independent diagnostic testing facilities, and ambu-lance companies at all levels of the appeals process throughout various states. Ms. Waesch also advises providers on man-aged care contracting issues, employment contracts, joint venture structural analyses and credentialing and privileging matters.

James (Jim) Whicker, CPAMJim is the Principal Technology Con-sultant in Health IT Strategy & Policy at Kaiser Permanente. He is respon-sible for coordinating and facilitat-ing the development of adminis-trative simplification transaction standards, code sets and operat-ing rules. Prior, he was with In-termountain Healthcare where he

was responsible for implementing HIPAA Transactions and Code Sets

and other related processes. He cur-rently participates with X12 in developing standards for Administrative Transactions and active in HL7 with the attachments work group. Jim chaired the Claim Adjust-ment Reason Code, Claim Status Reason Code, and Health Care Decision Reason

Code committee on behalf of the Ameri-can Hospital Association and continues as a voting member. He was elected as a Commissioner with the Electronic Health-care Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC) and has served as various chair and board positions with the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) on behalf of AAHAM and now Kaiser Per-manente. Jim is an active AAHAM mem-ber, as well as a Certified Patient Account Manager. He has served in various local and national positions and is currently the National EDI Liaison for over fifteen years. Jim received his B.A. in Finance from Utah State University.

Michael Wilmoth, EsquireMr. Wilmoth is a principal and Chief De-velopment Officer for Advanced Patient Advocacy. Michael has worked for more than fifteen years helping patients access the resources that cover the cost of care. His background as a litigator, regulatory specialist and lobbyist has helped influ-ence state and federal health policy. His more recent focus has been on developing programs and creating public-private part-nerships that streamline the enrollment process for Medicaid applicants.

Shawn YatesMr. Yates is the Director of Consulting Ser-vices for Experian Healthcare. He is respon-sible for developing custom solutions using advanced data and analytics for healthcare systems that positively impacts the entire revenue cycle process from registration to the back end collections operations. Mr. Yates has more than fifteen years of health-care revenue cycle management experi-ence. He previously worked for a health-care system managing the hospital self-pay receivables and collections operations. He has worked for a national outsourc-ing collections company, partnering with thousands of healthcare clients across the country helping them to manage their in-surance and self-pay receivables processes. Shawn holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia Tech and is currently a board member for AccountsRecovery.net.

General Session SpeakersGeneral Session Speakers Continued

Summer 2012 21

Professional Certification – Get your CEUs!Industry professionals on average, enjoy higher salaries and wages than non-certified individuals. Remember, continuing education units (CEUs) are necessary to maintain your AAHAM certifications. Earn two (2) AAHAM CEUs per each educational hour attended.

The AAHAM ANI offers the solutions you need to succeed, no matter what your challenge or experience level. With the ANI’s five distinct learning tracks and over 30 sessions, the ANI offers unparalleled education and training to meet every individual’s needs.

Schedule of Events (tentative)Tuesday, October 16, 2012

6:00pm – 8:00pmRegistration

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

7:30am – 5:30pmRegistration

8:00am – 11:45amBoard of Directors MeetingMade possible with the support of NHI Billing Services

9:00am – 11:00amCertification Coaching Session“Enhancing Career Opportuni-ties through Certification”Virginia Berney, CPAM, CCAM, Program Head, Medical Billing & Coding Department, Anthem CollegeThis session will help prepare you for AA-HAM certification exams in a fun, relaxed and informative format. The workforce has become very competitive; employers are now looking at certification in addition to education and experience. Whether you are already signed up for an exam or just con-templating sitting, this interactive, prepara-tory session is for you.

12:00pm – 1:30pmCPAM/CCAM Luncheon and Certification Awards PresentationAll CPAM/CCAM certified members are in-vited to join us as we recognize our newly certified professional members and bestow special achievement awards. This luncheon is open to CPAMs and CCAMs only.

1:45pm – 4:15pmOpening Keynote Session &Awards CeremonyKeynote Speaker:Christina Thielst, MHA, FACHE“Social Media in Healthcare; the Good, the Bad & the Ugly.”Made possible with the support of Financial Credit Services/Medmax

Financial Solutions The growth of social networking has been dramatic and the ap-plications are quickly finding their way into healthcare. This riveting session highlights how healthcare organizations are leverag-ing social media tools to connect, commu-nicate and collaborate with their patients, physicians, employees and the community-at-large. Ms. Thielst will explore how social media can contribute to meaningful use and offers advice for managing the risks that threaten the value of these powerful tools. Learn how to recognize the value of social media and mobile computing tools in healthcare environments. Ms. Thielst will help you identify the risks of these tools and solutions to minimize loss and damage to your organization’s reputation and why these new technologies can’t be ignored.

5:00pm – 6:00pmFirst Timer & New MemberReceptionAll new members and first-time ANI at-tendees are invited to join the AAHAM Board of Directors at a special networking reception in your honor.

6:00pm – 7:00pmWelcome Receptionin Exhibit HallJoin your friends, colleagues and ANI ex-

hibitors at the opening event of the ANI. Enjoy delicious appetizers and entertain-ment as you tour our exhibit booths and learn about the latest products and ser-vices available to our industry.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

7:30am – 4:30pmRegistration

8:00am – 9:00amContinental Breakfastin the Exhibit HallStart your day off right with delicious pas-tries and coffee while you visit with our ex-hibitors.

9:15am – 10:45amKEYNOTE SESSION“Finding the Funny in Change”Jan McInnis, Professional SpeakerJan will give share useful ideas on handlinglife’s curveballs using humor. From chang-ing rules and regulations budget cuts and longer work hours, there’s a lot of change coming at you. All of this change causes fear, tension and miscommunication. Jan will share practical tips to help you deal with this change using humor. She will show you how to diffuse tension instantly, how to kick off tough conversations and how to facilitate communications. You’ll walk away laughing and learning as you discover the steps you can take to conquer and even embrace, change.

Schedule of Events (tentative)Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Wednesday, October 17, 2012Thursday, October 18, 2012

22 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

Tentative ScheduleTentative Schedule Continued11:00am – 12:30pmCONCURRENT SESSIONS

MANAGEMENT /REVENUE CYCLETRACK“An EMR for the RevenueCycle: Documenting theBusiness Side of Care atUniversity of TennesseeMedical Center”Stephen Hovan, Executive Director, PatientFiscal ServicesThis session will discuss opportunities to improve the hospital’s bottom line by creating an EMR for the revenue cycle. Attendees will hear how the University of Tennessee has used documentation of revenue cycle activity to reduce deni-als, increase POS collections, improve patient and physician satisfaction and enhance workflow between depart-ments. Outcomes will be shared, as well as processes and methods.

COMPLIANCE TRACK“Creating an In-HouseCompliance Team: BasicPrinciples for Getting theJob Done”Lea Fourkiller, Esquire, Chief Compliance Officer, Conifer Health Solutions This session will explain how to effec-tively establish a compliance program that supports the goals of a hospital’s revenue cycle process, protects the fi-nancial and reputational welfare, and maintains an organization’s compliance with the law.

ACCESS /QUALITY MANAGEMENTTRACK“How Hendrick MedicalCenter of Abilene MadeCharge Capture theCenterpiece of RevenueIntegrity Program”Mike Reppart, CHFP, Director of BusinessServices, Hendrick Medical CenterKelley Blair, Vice President of ProfessionalServices, Craneware, Inc.This case study presentation will dem-onstrate how a properly orchestrated revenue integrity program including im-provements in coding, pricing, charge

and bill auditing processes, data gather-ing and ultimately, gross revenue, have been attained. Hendrick Medical Center has designed a revenue integrity pro-gram with charge capture as its center-piece and supported it with auto-updat-ing tools which have helped to support an automated workflow.

LEADERSHIP /PROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT“The Past, Present & Futureof Healthcare Reform”Gerard (Jerry) Vitti, President & CEO,Healthcare Financial, Inc.This session will show how Massachu-setts has paved the way for National Healthcare Reform. By looking at reform trends and the state of Massachusetts as the “benchmark” for national model and plans-indevelopment, Mr. Vitti will dissect and breakdown what has been working, what needs to be done and where we are likely headed on the path to nation-wide healthcare reform implementation. Attendees will gain a thorough comprehension of healthcare coverage, reimbursement and state pol-icy tactics.

SPECIALTY TRACK“RACing” Up the Costs ForProviders: How You CanProtect Yourself from RACAudits and Avoid LargeOverpayments”Amanda Waesch, Esquire, Healthcare Attor-ney, Brennan, Manna & Diamond, LLCThis session is designed to provide a brief overview of the RAC program, as well as an update of the recently amended RAC Statement of Work and Proposed Rule regarding Medicaid RACs. This session will also provide “best practices” to assist providers in mitigating against and handling RAC and payor audits by developing offen-sive and defensive strategies. Learn about RAC statistics and current activi-ties as well as hear an overview of ac-tual cases and outcomes.

12:30pm – 2:00pmBuffet Luncheonin the Exhibit HallEnjoy a delicious buffet luncheon while you visit and learn from our exhibitors.

2:00pm - 3:00pmCONCURRENT SESSIONS

MANAGEMENT /REVENUE CYCLETRACK“Getting Collections Right in a Challenging Self-Pay Envi-ronment”Brent Grimes, Administrative Director of Patient Account Services, INTEGRIS Health Shawn Yates, Director of Consulting Services for Experian HealthcareINTEGRIS Health will provide real world examples of challenges it has faced and how utilizing these new col-lections strategies have helped the healthcare system overcome a challeng-ing healthcare environment resulting in a decrease in bad debt and an increase in cash recoveries.

COMPLIANCE TRACK“A Practical Approach toIdentifying HIPAA Breaches”Catherine Colyer, Esquire, Corporate Coun-sel, Compliance Officer and Privacy Officer,Alliance Collection Agencies, Inc. andHealthcare Business Services, Inc.This session focuses on how to capture and report information related to a sus-pected HIPAA violation. Learn about specific tasks for providers regarding training of staff, how to properly docu-ment a suspected violation, how to as-sess whether business partners with whom the provider works are effectively capturing and reporting the necessary information to the provider, and how to design and execute an internal HIPAA breach risk assessment. The session culminates with a practical “to do” list which is relevant to both providers and their business partners.

Summer 2012 23

Tentative ScheduleTentative Schedule ContinuedACCESS /QUALITY MANAGEMENTTRACK“Managing Your Front EndProcess”Chuck Seviour, Vice President, RevenueCycle, Array Services GroupThis session will focus on managing your Front End Process and offers a partici-pative, informative, real-life approach to bringing Point of Service strategies in-line with the current economic and legislative environment. By changing our paradigm about how we think of POS activities, we are able to improve patient satisfaction, begin to change the way patients utilize healthcare services and protect the financial stability of our healthcare organizations.

LEADERSHIP /PROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT TRACK“Maximizing EmployeeOrientation and TrainingOutcomes”Judy Veazie, CPAM, CCT, Peace HealthCorporate System Service CenterThis presentation will provide manag-ers with tools to lock in their investment in staff and guarantee their new staff is ready and equipped to perform. It also provides tools to solve the traditional training puzzles and gaps inherent in the training cycle from “new hire” to “ready to go solo.”

SPECIALTY TRACK“How Big is Your Spread-sheet? Automating Data Can Reduce Your Reliance On Manual Processes andImprove Efficiency”Steven Honeywell, MBA, CCAM, CPAM, Se-nior Director of Professional Fee Billing, Uni-versity of Pennsylvania Health SystemMargaret Dowling, Senior Vice President, Pro-duct Management, PNC HealthcareEven if your patient billing system does not have a fully automated cash recon-ciliation module, this session will offer information on a number of tools to help begin the process of general ledger automation. Some of these automation solutions are traditional bank cash man-

agement services, adapted for health-care transactions, and some are new technology solutions.

3:15pm – 4:15pmCONCURRENT SESSIONS

MANAGEMENT/REVENUE CYCLE TRACK“Creating a Collaborative Culture: Improving RevenueCycle Performance ThroughAccountability”Cynamin Kinard, CPAR, Director, PatientFinancial Services, Gwinnett Hospital SystemChristine Fontaine, CHFP, CPAM, Vice Presi-dent, Revenue Cycle Solutions, OptumInsightThis case study presentation will show how Gwinnett’s management team used staff engagement, accountability and positive motivation to quickly turn around their revenue cycle operations. Their strategy resulted in rapid, sustain-able results while improving employee morale and satisfaction. This session will provide attendees with tools, pro-cesses and insight on how to align staff with revenue cycle goals, and have fun in the process!

COMPLIANCE TRACK“Considerations andStrategies for HealthcareProvider ContractCompliance Self-Audits”John B. Garver, III, Esquire, Partner,Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A.Jennifer Hutchens, Esquire, Associate,Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A.The creation and faithful use of contract compliance self-audit procedures helps prevent the unwitting creation of liabil-ity, which could include exclusion from federal health programs. This session will provide simple and clear guidance to help attendees understand and spot issues. It will explain how to implement a contract self-audit in order to ensure your organization is operating to mini-mize the risk of surprise in this area. At-tendees will learn the pros and cons of a self-disclosure, should the self-audit turn up problems. Gain an understand-ing of how self-audit and potential dis-closure are relevant to organizations, to enable you either to lead or to alert others in order to prevent unanticipated loss due to unintentionally faulty com-pliance structures.

24 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

Tentative ScheduleTentative Schedule ContinuedACCESS /QUALITY MANAGEMENTTRACK“How to Implementan Effective ClinicalDenials Strategy”Rhonda Bankester, RN, CPUR, CMAS,ICQCI, Vice President, Clinical RevenueCycle Services, Conifer Health SolutionsEnsuring a health system is properly re-imbursed for its services is vital for an ef-fective revenue management cycle. This session will provide effective approaches for establishing denial prevention and re-covery processes that lead to enhanced profitability and reduction of case man-agement workload and a decrease of in-surance denials. Conifer will share their best resources available to support a hospital case management team and how they can impact your bottom-line revenue cycle management efforts.

LEADERSHIP /PROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT TRACK“Igniting Story &Building Teams”Mark Mathia, MBA, CEO, TiburonFinancial, LLCThis session will enable leaders at ev-ery level to understand and implement strategies that enhance teamwork and unify vision through the use of story building techniques. Story is one of the best ways to clearly assess weaknesses and rally teammates around a vision worth striving for.

SPECIALTY TRACK“Consumer DrivenHealthcare, HighDeductible Health PlansHistory, Present and Future. Impact on Patient Responsi-bility and Financing”James S. Gandolfo, Vice President SeniorConsultant Treasury Consulting Group, PNCJ. Kevin McKechnie, Executive Director,American Bankers Insurance Association &Executive Director of ABA’s HAS CouncilThis session details the evolution of “Consumer Driven Healthcare”, the regulatory and legislative events that created Health Savings accounts in

particular. The speakers will clarify the difference between the plans and their financing accounts with respect to their impact on patient responsibility and corresponding financial impact to pro-viders.

6:00pm – 7:00pmPresident’s ReceptionAll attendees are invited to join AAHAM President, Christine Stottlemyer, CPAM, for a networking reception before the ban-quet festivities begin.

7:00 pm – 11:00pmAnnual Awards BanquetEnjoy a delicious dinner; awards presenta-tions and dancing.

Friday, October 19, 2012

8:45am – 3:00pmRegistration

9:00am – 10:00amContinental Breakfastin the Exhibit HallStart your day off right with delicious pas-tries and coffee while you visit with our exhibitors.

10:15am – 11:45amCONCURRENT SESSIONS

MANAGEMENT /REVENUE CYCLETRACK“What’s Your MagicNumber? Solve YourHospital’s AccountsReceivable Challenges”Dan Hobbs, CPAM, Senior Consultant, QHRIn this session learn how to improve your revenue cycle process outcomes by im-proving your process from the start. The patient’s access point is the first chance you have to improve patient satisfaction. The same access point is also your first chance to increase efficiency and reduce errors that affect your revenue cycle out-comes.

COMPLIANCE TRACK“The Tale of 5010 and

The Little Red Hen”Douglas Bilbrey, Executive Vice President,The SSI Group, Inc.The Little Red Hen is a folk tale that em-phasizes the virtues of the work ethic and personal initiative. Prior to 5010 deadlines, SSI used this tale in a cau-tionary way to encourage providers to take part in the necessary preparation for the 5010 transition and protect their revenue streams. In this session, Mr. Bil-brey will share lessons learned from the 5010 preparation experience and how to apply them towards ICD-10 prepara-tion. He will also discuss the benefits of using a test harness to insulate the pro-ductionenvironment from potential in-terruptions and to analyze the impact of ICD-10 edits on business processes.

ACCESS /QUALITY MANAGEMENTTRACK“Improving POS Collectionsin Emergency Department:It is possible!”Michelle Moore, CPAT, RegistrationSupervisor, Emergency Department,Presbyterian Intercommunity HospitalAngelica Del Villar, CPAT, Registration LeadSupervisor, Emergency Department,Presbyterian Intercommunity HospitalPoint of Service Collections is challeng-ing in any area of a hospital; the Emergen-cy Department arguably being the most challenging due to the nature of the care and setting. However, reaching a success-ful POS process and outcome is possible, even in a fast paced Emergency Room. This session will provide a case study of the Emergency Room Registration De-partment at Presbyterian Intercommu-nity Hospital and how they accomplished increasing the POS Collections by more than 55%. Learn the methods you can use that were implemented in the progressive success for the collection process, script-ing, best practice steps and expectations, monthly goals and rewards/recognition ideas for staff.

LEADERSHIP /PROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT TRACK“Can’t Get There From

Friday, October 19, 2012

Summer 2012 25

Tentative ScheduleTentative Schedule ContinuedHere, Oh Yes We Can!”Nancy Price, CPAM, Director, PatientFinancial Services, Bacharach Institute forRehabilitation This session will show you step-by-step guidelines for changing processes in the workplace so employees can work smarter not harder. Guidelines will in-clude how to get started, how to get em-ployees on board, what questions to ask, how to make processes more efficient and how to complete the change with a written procedure to transform to a “leaner” way of thinking.

SPECIALTY TRACK“How to Improve YourPhysician DocumentationImprovement Programwith Limited Resources”Linda Fotheringill, Esquire, Principal,Washington & West, LLCThis presentation will provide concepts and tools to assist in effective physician education & compliance to ensure best practice physician documentation. The cost of fighting a denial erodes already slim margins; therefore denial preven-tion is essential for economic sustain-ability. The key to denial prevention is Physician compliance and Physician documentation improvement.

12:00pm – 1:30pmBuffet Luncheon in Exhibit HallEnjoy a delicious buffet luncheon while you visit and learn from our exhibitors.

1:30pm – 2:30pmCONCURRENT SESSIONS

MANAGEMENT /REVENUE CYCLETRACK“Retrospective DenialsManagement”Glen Reiner, RN, Vice President ClinicalOperations, AdreimaNicole Guido, Regional Vice President ofSales, AdreimaThis session will show how effective de-nials management is critical to overall revenue cycle management and done

correctly can positively impact a hos-pitals financial bottom line. Knowing how to structure an integrated, effective process is key to achieving to the best outcomes.

ACCESS /QUALITY MANAGEMENTTRACK“Reengineering PatientAccess- A Case Study”Mark Sammartano, CEO, Blue MarshHoldings, LLCThe case study session presents the im-plementation of centralized registration in coordination with implementation of a central scheduling model. The scope of the presentation is based on a scientific approach to resource development and allocation using quantitative measures.

LEADERSHIP /PROFESSIONALDevelopment Track“Maximizing Enrollmentin the Shadow of PPACA”Michael Wilmoth, Esquire, Principal, ChiefDevelopment Officer, Advanced PatientAdvocacy, LLCThis session will discuss how federal insurance reform is a game changer for provider- based eligibility/enrollment programs. Learn how you can optimize Medicaid cash flow by integrating best practice strategies to ensure a success-ful transition.

SPECIALTY TRACK“Where Patient Clinical andFinancial Experiences Meet:The Hidden Opportunity”Steve Levin, Chief Executive Officer,Connance, Inc.This session will discuss how patient loyalty is influenced by how patients are treated during the billing process, post-care and the opportunity it creates. Consumer research shows that patient’s experience with the hospital billing of-fice impacts their clinical and hospital perceptions. There is a major opportu-nity to improve the total patient experi-ence by improving the billing processes.

2:45pm – 3:45pmICD-10 Panel DiscussionJoin top experts in the field as they discuss the challenging world of ICD-10 and hear how facilities like yours are preparing for the transition. The panelists represent key individuals from a large health system; me-dium size hospital, critical access hospital and an insurance company will discuss how they have progressed with the preparations for ICD 10 implementation, the pitfalls and what they have learned along the way.

PANELISTS :Susan Gutjhar, BS, RHIT, CCS, CPC, Sparta Community Hospital

Lyman G. Sornberger, Executive Director, Revenue Cycle Management, Cleveland Clinic Health Systems

Tanja Twist, Director of Patient Financial Services for Methodist Hospital

George V. Vancore, IT Systems Integrator Business Architect, Delivery Systems, Florida Blue

MODERATOR :James (Jim) Whicker, CPAM, Principal Technology Consultant, Kaiser Permanente

3:45pm – 4:00pmRefreshment Break and RaffleDrawings

4:00pm – 5:00pmClosing Keynote Session“Washington Update”Paul Miller, PLC, Miller/Wenhold CapitolStrategies, LLCJoin Paul Miller, AAHAM’s “Man in Wash-ington” for an informative session on the upcoming 2012 elections and a Washing-ton status recap.

26 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

By Deborah WalkerCertified Career Management Coach

Alpha Advantage

Some of the most challenging interview questions are found in behavioral inter-

views which are designed to test your abili-ties in three ways: 1. Determine how well you work under

pressure2. Find out how well you work with others3. Establish whether you can resolve con-

flicts

SampleInterviewQuestions To test your stress-coping skills you

may get a question like: “Tell me about the most stressful situation you’ve encountered in your current position.”

To find out how well you work with others you might be asked: “Tell me about a time when you strongly disagreed with your team?”; “Tell me about a time when you thought your boss was wrong? How did you handle it?”

Finally, employers want staff members who can resolve conflicts to gain win-win results for all parties.

To discover your conflict-resolution

skills you might be asked: “Tell me about a time when you had difficulty resolving a customer conflict?”

Therearethreestepstopreparingforabehavioralinterview.

1.  Behavioral questions ask you about spe-cific events. Take inventory of the stress-ful or difficult situations you’ve encoun-tered at work. Think back to times when you didn’t agree with your boss, or when your peers drove you crazy, or when cus-tomers made unrealistic demands.

2.  If the workplace doesn’t provide much to choose from, expand your thought process to include other circumstances where you work or must cooperate with others, like community activities, neighborhood asso-ciations, or church functions.  For instance, planning a school fundraiser, participating on a neighborhood committee or partici-pating on a professional association board. Any of these situations are ripe with op-portunities for conflict and cooperation, where something must be accomplished for the betterment of the group.

3.  Once you’ve thought of several situa-tions, plan how you will present them in a positivelight. 

For situations you didn’t handle well (like

your boss yelled at you and you ran off crying) present them in terms of what you learned, like this:

“Yes, I learned an important lesson about following directions and asking ques-tions for clarification when. . . “

For situations that did turn out well, present them based on what was accom-plished, like this:

“Yes, I had to deal with a really angry customer just last week.  But when I calmly asked a few questions I was able to get to the heart of her issue. I was able to fix the problem, and she was happy with us again.”

With the right interview preparation, you can turn nightmare behavioral ques-tions into opportunities to sell yourself. You’ll be seen as an employee who is able to stay calm under pressure, work well with others to promote corporate goals, and re-tain key customers, contributing to revenue growth. In other words, the type of person all employers would want to hire. n

Deborah Walker, Certified Career Manage-ment Coach Read more career tips and see sample resumes at: www.AlphaAdvantage.com, email: Deb@Alphaadvantage.com, 360-260-4965, Twitter: http://twitter.com/DebWalkerCCMC

Three Steps to Great Answers

BehavioralInterviews

Summer 2012 27

28 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

By Jan McInnis, ComedianComedy Writer and Professional Speaker

My friend Mary has a great sense of humor. She recently got to ride in

an ambulance courtesy of a heart problem, and as she was lying there looking around, she saw the word “GRIP” written on each of the ambulance door handles. Except that on one side the “G” was obscured, so you could only see the last three letters. And as she points out, “RIP is really not what you want to read as you’re headed to the hospital!”

Not only is that hilarious, butlet’s face it, wouldn’t most of us be looking around the ambulance for humor. We’d be freaking out and begging them not to put a needle in us, (okay, maybe that’s just me and my needle phobia). She found humor in a non-humorous situation. This may not have made her heart problem any better, but it may have made the ride a tiny bit better.

We are challenged with non-humorous situations daily, even if you don’t think you have a great sense of humor, at least you can try to find the lighter side of things, so you can do as Mary and make the situation a tiny bit better. No one gets mad at you for trying to joke around (unless you are a co-median in a comedy club and people paid money to laugh, then they get upset if you’re not funny. But usually, people appreciate that you’re trying to liven things up.

A lot of things have potential for being funny, if you just pay attention. I stopped by the store to pick up a few things I need-

ed to do my laundry, and I asked the clerk where the bleach was. She sent me down the cosmetics aisle! It took me a minute before I realized, hey lady; it’s for my whites, not my mustache! I guess I could have been in-sulted (I don’t have a mustache), but I chose to laugh it off. I think the mustache is her issue, not mine.

I don’t think we use humor enough in our communications. I looked up the word communications in Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, and it says that all organisms communicate. Even fungus communicates. I’m thinking, what does fungus say, Jan just cleaned her bathroom, let’s multiply? But as humans, I think we’re the only organism that can put humor into our communica-tions on purpose, and we don’t do it enough.

It’s nice to see some companies are en-couraging humor in the workplace. I read an article in Southwest Airlines magazine that they ask candidates during the job interview to tell a joke. That may be a little extreme, but wouldn’t it be better to teach your em-ployees to goof around and even let them know as early as the job interview that it is okay to have fun with people?

People who use humor are the ones we remember. Last Halloween, when I arrived at the car rental counter at the airport, I saw that the agent was dressed up as the devil, complete with horns, a pitchfork and tail. When she handed me the paperwork, I stat-ed loudly, but I can’t sign a contract with the devil! She was great and immediately played along. We both cracked up and had a “no I can’t, yes you can” banter for a few min-

utes, which entertained everyone in line and made the rental process much better.

Humor also livens up the boring things in life. I once sat through a hospital awards ceremony in which they gave out 292 service awards. That’s two hundred and ninety-two service awards! By the time I got onstage, I said, “you know, I earned my five year pin just sitting here through this ceremony!”

You can also get people’s attention, in a good way, with humor. If you want people to show up at a meeting, you could demand they attend the sexual harassment training seminar. People would go, but they might not be happy about it. Or you could have some fun with it; “come to the sexual harass-ment training seminar. We’ll show you why a pat on the back is cheap, and a pat any-where else costs millions!” Okay, that might get you in a little bit of trouble, but you get my point.

You can also make things more interest-ing with humor; things such as your intro-duction. How many times do we introduce ourselves with the same old boring informa-tion about our name, our job, and our com-panies? I challenge you at the conference this year to ask funnier questions when you meet people so that you learn something different that’s also memorable. I love the show on Animal Planet, Fatal Attraction, in which people have exotic pets like alligators and lions. Wouldn’t it be cool to find out that your new friend Bob is living with a real cougar? You would actually remember him the next time you ran into him! At my program last week, we found out the god-

by Keeping Your Sense of Humor

ChangingAttitudeYour

mother of one of the attendees is Madonna’s mother! You’d never find that out if you didn’t ask a funnier question.

If we’ve learned anything from social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twit-ter, and LinkedFace (okay, I made that last one up), it’s that what people really want is a sense of community, and one of the best ways to create that sense of community is to use humor. In keeping with your confer-

ence theme on change, I’ll be talking about ways to use humor when you’re dealing with change, but I challenge you to start looking for the humor now so that you can begin reaping the benefits immediately. And the next time you’re faced with a big challenge down the road, you’ll be able to find some-thing funny about it, and that will make the situation a tiny bit better. n

Jan McInnis will be sharing her keynote “Finding the Funny in Change” at the AAHAM ANI. She is the author of “Finding the Funny FAST; How to Create Quick Humor to Connect with Clients, Coworkers. Ms. McInnis can be reached at 800.492.9394 and Jan@TheWorkLady.com

Summer 2012 29

30 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

Continued on page 31

By Steve Chrapla, CHFPDirector Third Party Solutions,

Avadyne HealthMember of the Texas Bluebonnet chapter

Healthcare reform places additional challenges to providers. The Patient

Protection and Affordable Care Act, as it is currently written, establishes compliance requirements related to financial screen-ing impacting patient billing and potential financial assistance. Experts have stated that such screenings, to meet these require-ments, need to be done on the front end of the revenue cycle. This will place additional responsibilities and challenges on hospital’s Access areas.

Providers will need to find ways to be more efficient and provide quality service for less cost. In addition there is, for lack of a better phrase, the “consumerism impact” on healthcare delivery that is requiring provid-ers to take a more patient centric approach. This means enhancing the patient’s overall experience and increasing the level of sat-isfaction the patient has with their health-care provider. These tasks will require the complete involvement and cooperation of all clinical and administrative departments within a healthcare organization.

For Patient Access Departments, their primary objectives will need to include;• Amorepatientcentricapproachtoallin-

teractions• Increased patient’s satisfaction with the

provider • Reductionofnetoperatingexpenses

• Increased level of financial and clinicalscreening

• Establishedclearfinancialandclinicalex-pectations for the patients

• Reduced level of re-work in post-treat-ment revenue cycle functions

• Reducedpayerdenials• Increasedcashcollections

Is it time we re-think how Access de-partments have approached work flow and process?

Revenue Cycle executives have long discovered the benefits of critical outsourced functions used in the back end of the Rev-enue Cycle. Can some of these resources serve the Access areas? Consider external call center operations a resource in achieving the objectives facing the Access Departments.

Current pre-access processes require extensive telephone interactions that, while are often redundant, require staff with spe-cific communication skills with expertise in discussing financial responsibilities. The process requires accessibility for patients that volumes often create cost efficiency challenges. Staff interpersonal skills are es-sential to successful patient interactions but often not available or developed with access department personnel. The latest technolo-gies are often cost prohibitive or even be-yond the resource capabilities usually found in Access Departments.

Some of the functions within Patient Access that would benefit from a call center operation would include;• Patientscheduling• Medicalnecessityscreening• Pre-registration• Pre-certificationofservices

• Eligibilityandbenefitsverification• Financialscreeningandcounseling• Pre-servicecollections

These pre-access functions can have a significant financial impact on a facility. Controlling denied claims alone can in-crease net revenues by over 2%. The reduc-tion in re-work within the business office can also be impacted by over 60%.

A properly structured call center opera-tion can provide the following benefits;• Increased patient and physician satisfac-

tion• Standardizedprocessesforallserviceareas

and locations• Timelyefficientscheduling• Expeditedregistration• Improved financial metrics/lower costs

and increased reimbursements• Reductioninpayerdenials• Expandedhoursofoperations• Skilled staff specialized in patient com-

munications• Financialcounselingspecialists• Staffing complementwith cross training

to meet variable volume demands• Technology including Interactive Voice

Response (IVRs), call recording and pre-dictive dialing

• Presumptivecharityscreeningtechnologywith hospital specific criteria

• Managementknowledgeableinhigh-vol-ume call operations

Gap Analysis: Definition of ‘GapAnalysis’1) The process through which a company compares

Benefit Hospitals’ Access Departments?

ExternalCall Centers

Can

Summer 2012 31

its actual performance  to its expected perfor-mance to determine  whether it is meeting ex-pectations and using its resources effectively. Gap analysis seeks to answer the questions “where are we?” (current state) and “where do we want to be?” (target state).

As with the development of any opera-tional process the identification and moni-toring of key metrics is critical. Here are some best practices and metrics an effective pre-access call center would achieve.

Scheduling• 100% of non-emergent patients are

scheduled• Allcasesarescheduledataminimumof

twelve hours in advance of service• Allsurgeriesareverifiedagainstinpatient

only list• Collectionofallinformationpriortosur-

gery in accordance with clinical criteria• Medical necessity is validated to pre-

vent Advanced Beneficiary Notification (ABNs)

• “OKtodelay”criteriaisestablishedwithphysicians

Re-Registration• 95%ofallscheduledpatientsarepre-reg-

istered• 100% of all pre-registered patients have

insurance eligibility and benefits verified• Identify specific service lines requiring

verbal verification beyond electronic veri-

fication and obtain 100%• 100%pre-certificationonallrequiredpa-

tients• 98%Patientdemographicdataquality

Patient/GuarantorCommunications• Allnon-coveredservicesareexplainedto

every patient impacted• 95%ofalloutofpocketcostsarerequest-

ed from patient/or as guided by patients prior payment history

• 80%ofPOScollectionpotentialachieved• 100% of patients with outstanding AR

will be counseled• Charity care guidelines explained to

100% of applicable patients

CallCenterOperations• 80%ofcallsansweredwithintwentysec-

onds • 50secondaveragecallholdtime• <5%abandonedcallrate• 98%completeresolutioninonecall

While the benefits may be overwhelm-

ing, the success of moving to an external call center model have many factors to con-sider, as well as understanding important stake holders. It is critical you understand the barriers to success. The physicians may feel they are less involved over their patient’s treatment or will be left out of critical com-munications with their patients. Manage-ment may feel a loss of control or that an outsourced service may have an adverse

public relations impact. Hospital clinical departments may feel they are losing con-trol and will be negatively impacted. Most importantly will the marketplace or patients view this negatively and that they are deal-ing with individuals that are not interested in them. As you develop the project plan for such a venture it is important to keep these points in mind.

Begin with by performing an analysis of your current operations and determine the current and future financial impact you are experiencing. A GAP analysis (compar-ing actual performance  to expected perfor-mance) will allow you to identify the po-tential of your Access Departments as well as impact of future revenues as the result of enhanced patient experiences. Process design with key stakeholders will be important to achieve buy-in and ensure the most appro-priate processes are being developed. De-velop implementation plans and always over communicate to minimize misinformation. It is also important to indentify your exter-nal partner and bring them into the plan-ning process as early as possible. This ensures a high commitment level and the develop-ment of a true partnership environment.

Access Departments like all operational areas within hospitals will need to consider solutions to challenges that may differ from approaches in the past. n

Mr. Chrapla can be reached at 847.395.7655 and schrapla@avadynehealth.com

32 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

meet a committee chair

Q. Where do you work and what do you do?

A. I am the Director of Business Services at Marshalltown Medical & Surgical Cen-ter in Marshalltown, Iowa

Q. How many years have you been a Na-tional Member?

A. 25 years

Q. How did you get where you are today professionally?

A. I graduated from college with a degree in Psychology and took a job with the State of Iowa in the Child Support Recovery Unit. Experiences from that job helped me land a credit manager position at an Iowa hospital.

Q. What made you decide to become certi-

fied? A. I remember thinking that trying to gain

certification would look good in the eyes of my supervisor. Also, I knew it would be great way to learn some key principals that I would use in patient accounting.

Q. What advice do you have for members that want to move up in their current healthcare careers?

A. Get certified! Also, don’t get caught tak-ing a narrow approach to everyday is-sues. Ask questions and really try and learn a process from beginning to end.

Q. What are your children(s) names, ages and occupations (if applicable)?

A. My daughter, Megan is 25, and works for Principal Financial Group in Des Moines. My son Ben is 23 and works for JB Hunt. He and his wife Mallory live in Chicago.

Q. What was the last book you read? A. “To Heaven and Back”

Q. What is your favorite movie? A. Serenity

Q. What is your indulgence? A. M&Ms

Q. What was your first job? A. Cheesemaker

Q. Where did you spend your last vacation? A. Padre Island area in Southern Texas Q. What do you never leave home without

when you travel?

A. I would have to say now it is my iPad Q. Celebrity crush? A. Michelle Monaghan

Q. I still can’t quite get the hang of.... A. Playing video games competitively with

my son.....It’s very frustrating! Q. What is your favorite way to celebrate

after you’ve completed a demanding project?

A. Hang out on my deck with friends

Q. Name something about you that most people don’t know.

A. I once trained shot put with a Olympic medalist and former world record hold-er, Al Feuerbach.

Q. What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you were younger?

A. Not to worry about things you can’t con-trol

Q. The world would be a better place if only…

A. I could take my dog to work with me every day! n

Michael (Mike) Dobbs, CPAMChapter Development Chair

Summer 2012 33

professional certification corner

On AAHAM’s Professional Certifica-tion exams, you will find plenty of

examples of what most people call “essay questions.” We are occasionally asked why we have these types of questions on our ex-ams. There are several reasons. First, an es-say is a good way to assess communication skills and writing ability. Both of these are important for someone who holds a man-agement position. Second, an essay displays the depth of knowledge of the subject mate-rial, or lack of it. Again, this is important for someone in a leadership role. And finally, an essay can demonstrate critical thinking skills, also important for leaders.

I often tell people to think of it this way- Suppose your boss emailed you to ask what it means to outsource first party collections and what you think about it. How would you answer them? You would want your email reply to demonstrate your knowledge of the topic, and show thought-ful reasons for your opinion. You can’t do ei-ther of those things if you can’t write a good answer to an essay question.

So what makes a good answer to an es-say question? Before you can even begin to write an answer, you must do a few things first. You need to read the question carefully, to make sure you understand what is being asked. You may need to supply a list; you

may need to write a paragraph; you may need to compare and contrast two alterna-tives. If you don’t understand the question, you will be unable to write a correct answer.

Next, you begin to think about the structure of your answer. If a question asks you to list three advantages of outsourcing your first party collections, you can prob-ably use bullet points. However, it is impor-tant to have an introduction and conclusion as well. Here is an example of how to answer the above question:

Outsourcing first party collection, or early out, has numerous advantages:1. Collection agencies have specialized staff2. Collection agencies have technology spe-

cifically designed for collecting money3. Outsourcing typically increases the per-

centage of cash collected, even after their fees are taken into account

The advantages of outsourcing should be carefully compared to any disadvantages when evaluating whether or not to do so.

For some questions you will need to write a longer paragraph or two. Here is an example of how to answer a question asking you to explain the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA):

The FMLA, or the Family Medical Leave Act, is a Federal law meant to protect the jobs

of people who need extended time off for a specified condition of themselves or a family member. A condition can include childbirth or the adoption of a child, personal illness or that of a family member, or certain situation arising due to active military duty.

To be eligible for FMLA, a person must have been employed for at least twelve months and worked 1250 hours or more in the last year. FMLA can extend twelve weeks for medical conditions and twenty-six weeks to care for a service member. The twelve weeks need not be taken consecu-tively. When a person returns from FMLA, he or she must be given the same job or one similar in duties, benefits and wages.

A few other important and useful things to remember when answering an es-say question, do not just restate the same points to hide the fact you do not have other points to write about. Make sure to proofread your answer, because even though spelling and grammar are not scored, you may have written something that might not really make sense. And finally, do not obsess over your answer. Imagine yourself just jot-ting off a little bit longer than usual email to your boss.

Remember, I am more than happy to help you with certification questions. Con-tact me at ebaptist@perrymemorial.org. n

Certification Essay Questions

Elizabeth Baptist, CPAMProfessional Certification Chair

34 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

from the desk of the certification director

Maria LeDoux, CAE

Professional Certification Exams are coming up….

The dates for the fall professional exams are approaching fast; the week of Oc-

tober 22-27, 2012, is right around the cor-ner and will be here in no time!

AAHAM has made substantial invest-ments over the past few years in improv-ing the materials available to assist you in preparing for all of our exams. The CPAM/CCAM Exam Study Manual is the only study manual written by AAHAM for AA-HAM’s Professional Exams, it was designed specifically to assist you in studying for AA-HAM’s certification programs. The manual

has a wealth of helpful information for those studying for the CPAM and CCAM exams and for those who do coaching; it is also a great reference and training book for facili-ties. The manual chapters match each sec-tion of the exams; Patient Access, Billing, Credit & Collections and Revenue Cycle Management. The material is targeted and geared toward exam questions and features knowledge checks along the way to help you gauge your progress.

AAHAM is conducting the popular four part Professional Exam Training We-

binars again this summer. Those who take this intensive study series have been shown to have a higher pass rate than those who do not. The webinars cover the four parts of the exam - Patient Access, Billing, Credit & Collections and Revenue Cycle Manage-ment. If you are unable to attend the live sessions or missed one along the way, CD-ROMs of the entire series are also available.

Another helpful preparation tool is the online CPAM practice exam, available for purchase on the AAHAM website. You can use this to help you identify the sections you are strong and/or weak in and to help you target your studying. There are twenty ques-tions covering each of the four exam sec-tions for a total of eighty questions.

Local Chapters are a great resource and many offer training opportunities. AAHAM has published a coaching kit to accompany the study manual; your chapter’s trainers will be able to use this to assist in help with chapter training sessions. Be sure to contact your local chapter to find out what options they have available to help you prepare for your exam.

Finally, you can attend the coaching session offered at this year’s ANI, being held October 17-19, 2012, at The Hyatt Regen-cy, Coconut Point in sunny Bonita Springs, Florida. The coaching session is a great pro-fessional exam preparation tool and a great way to refresh and refocus your studies just a week before the exams are scheduled. Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity as well.

Keep in mind the time and effort in-volved with preparing for your certification exams can be seem intimidating, but if the exams were not demanding, they would have no value.

After all, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it!

Good luck and happy studying! n

What are the Benefits AAHAM Membership?• EligibilityforCertificationDesignations• ExclusiveinvitationandpricingtotheAAHAM’sAnnualNationalInstitute(ANI)• Invitationtoanactivescholarshipandawardsprogram

Enhance Your Career - network with your peers via the:• JoinyourlocalAAHAMChapter,thereare35localAAHAMchaptersacrossthenationtochoosefrom• MembershipDirectory,availableon-lineatwww.aaham.orghelpsyoukeepintouchwithothermembers

andvendorsbothlocallyandnationwide• JobBanktoassistyouinsearchingandpostingthatspecialjob• Unlimitednetworkingandinformationexchangethroughourwebsiteandchapterinteraction• Websiteaccesstostateandmetroareahospitalassociationsnationwide• AAHAMMemberListServe• SocialMediaGroups

Stay Informed - keep on top of the latest regulations and guidelines affecting patient accounting matters through AAHAM’s publications:• LegislativeCurrents• TheJournalofHealthcareAdministrativeManagement• NationalNews• eNewswatch

Discounts on Products and Services• Seminar,meeting,andproductdiscountsofferedbythechaptersandtheNationalorganization• Affinitydiscountsoncreditcards,hotels,movingservicesandrentalcars• Andsomuchmore!

For more information visit: www.aaham.org

Join AAHAM For Valuable Educational and Career Support.

Increase your professionalism, improve your skills and enhance your knowledge

Summer 2012 35

technical certification corner

Brenda Chambers, CPAMTechnical Certification Chair

Continual Improvementsin Technical Certification

Summer is here and the 100+ degree weather in most areas is proof of that. It

makes for lazy and hot summer days. Speak-ing of hot, the certification committee has been hot on making changes to improve the certification process. We are excited about the ideas and work being done, and I am happy to share those with you.

During this past quarter, the Techni-cal Certification committee has been busy updating and revising. We have revised and added new material to the CCT manual and exam. The update of the manual is sched-uled right after the August CCT exams. We will then be adding new exam questions to reflect the changes and new material the manual now covers. In October, the com-mittee will begin our annual review and update of the CPAT/CCAT manual and ex-ams. The manual will be updated in time for you to study for the February 2013 exams.

The committee is very interested in receiving feedback if examinees have used study sessions, used the coaching kit, study

manual or whether assistance was provided in taking the exam. This will be a great help to us to see if chapters and/or facilities are providing training and assistance to help study and pass the exams. This feedback also helps us to determine the usefulness and popularity of our study tools. Therefore, the committee will be asking three yes or no questions during the sign in phase of the upcoming certification exams. They will be:1. If your chapter held certification study

sessions, did you attend?2. Did your employer offer any certification

study sessions to help you prepare for the exam?

3. Did you use the AAHAM CPAT/CCAT Exam Study Manual?

In other news, I am an official blogger now. Yep, that’s right! I have never blogged before but thanks to the National AAHAM office, I have been brought into the current century. I update the blog every few weeks, so if you get an opportunity, go to the AA-HAM website and click on the technical

certification blog link. For those of you on Facebook or LinkedIn, the blog should au-tomatically be posted there too.

Starting with this issue, be sure to read the new article series in the Journal on the importance of certification and why you and your colleagues should be encouraged to take the exams .

During the month of September, the committee will be presenting a webinar on federal rules and regulations. Whether you are studying for the CCT exam or for the CPAT/CCAT exam, the material covered will assist you with those items covered in the exam. Don’t forget to look at the AA-HAM website frequently for continuous updates on webinars, blogs and certification.

The Technical Certification committee continues to strive to bring you the best in education and certification. Please continue to share your thoughts, ideas and sugges-tions on how we can better meet your cer-tification needs. I can be reached at brenda.chambers@parallon.net. n

CPAM Certified Patient Account Manager

CCAM Certified Clinic Account Manager

Certificaiton opens the door to the possibility of career advancement. Earning an AAHAM certification demonstrates that you have mastered the common body of knowledge for your profession. Sitting for these exams requires commitment and dedication. The CPAM/CCAM Exam Study Manual will help assist you in preparing for the CPAM/CCAM Exams.

Written by AAHAM, for AAHAM’s own certification programs ensures that this manual is the gateway to studying for and passing these professional exams. Included in the manual are chapter review questions and study tips.

Log on to www.aaham.org for more information and to order your Exam Study Manual today!

36 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

from the desk of the membership director

Welcome New Members

Moayad ZahralddinAAHAM

Membership Director

AksarbenChapterVelda Walker GreaterFloridaBuccaneerChapter Cassandra Acoff Jill Ash Vincent Giusto Barbara Gleeson Linda Gusa,CPAT Sonda Hilgeman H. Wayne Isenhour Kelly Isidore Marianna Kaminski,CPAT Mark Kostreba Dolores O’Brien-Stanislaski,CPAT Mishell Penney Luisa Perez,CPAT David Rathel Michael Rogers Amy Schutte

Tammy Scott Kelly Tighe,CPAT W. Mikki Weston Denise Willner,CPAT CarolinaChapter Jumelle Brooks Michael Grover II Tracey Harmon,CPAT Joy Hong,CPAT Mark Kostreba Jimmy Tan,CPAT Benita Thompson,CPAT EvergreenChapter Kelly Bruette GopherChapter Jennifer Farasyn Paul Martinson

Kristina Mulder Kimberly Wood Nancy Wrazidlo HawkeyeChapter Liz Baker Jessica Campbell Mary Cowan,CPAT Wendy Edwards,CPAT Heather Ernst Joyce Schumacher IllinoisChapter Nicholas Barthel Benjamin Capp Coleen Cummings Ryan Duffy Jodi Glenn Greg Hannell

Don’t forget! This year Patient Account Management Week (PAM Week) will be held October 15-20.  This year’s theme is “Feel The Strength” which recognizes the exemplary work per-

formed by healthcare administrative management teams in hospitals, physician practices and health-care related industries.

PAM Week is your opportunity to promote your field through your hospitals and offices to honor your colleagues and bring awareness to the profession. Products to promote and support PAM Day are available in our online store.  Be sure to check the AAHAM website for more information.  It’s never too early to start recognizing your patient account management staff!

Networking with your peers and colleagues is one of the biggest benefits AAHAM membership offers you. This active and involved network of other professionals offers you a resource you can’t find any where else. AAHAM is the only national organization dedicated to the revenue cycle, both management and the front line staff. If you are looking for an edge in your career path, either in a job search or moving up the ladder in your current position, certification is the way to go. We offer two levels of certification; professional and technical, visit our website to learn more.

Thank you for letting me serve all of you, and I hope to see you all in Bonita Springs for the ANI!

Continued on page 37

Summer 2012 37

Jessica Olson Jeff Porter Sidney Priebe Dorothy Richardson Dorothea White Michelle Whittaker-McCracken InlandEmpireChapter Victoria Antonucci Lee Ayers Lisa Higbee Corey Hoehne Anthony Nelson Denise Raymond KeystoneChapter Christine Nguyen-Le,CPAT Alisha Rohrer,CPAT Kimberly White MarylandChapter Ilana Bar-Levav Deborah Bigsby,CPAT Jennifer Doherty Elaine Edwards Susan Hunter Devonn Litz Lisa Oliver,CPAT Tom Rawlings Danielle Reese Shahada Riley Jamie Roberts Alexis Skinner MountainWestChapter Joshua Linegarger NewJerseyChapter Samuel Donio Jeanne Haas Cheryl Hayne Kelly Ann Hughes-Cascio Sara Polak Chris Scharle WesternReserveChapter Mary Britton,CPAT Arley Cope Brenda Hubert Dorothea White

NortheastPennsylvaniaChapter Michelle Whittaker-McCracken RockyMountainChapter Lee Ann Canterbury,CPAT Sharon Smith Phil Whartan Gretchen Wilson PinetreeChapter Vincent DiPierro Deborah Dusablon Janet Hodgdon Barbie Mazurek Maria Peatfield SouthFloridaChapter Kim de la Garza WesternRegionChapter Arley Cope John Feldman Jr. Nancy Hughes Michael Kennedy Michelle Moore Chris O’Dell T. Denise Ransdell Roni Teson Teresa Torkelson Ronald Walker Michelle Whittaker-McCracken Lisa Wong VirginaChapter Jay Andrews Stacy Brooks,CPAT Pamela Cornell Donna Coughlin,CPAT V. Alice Fowler,CPAT Portia Jones,CPAT Nezenine Munoz Tammy Spring,CPAT PhiladephiaChapter Mary DeSantis Marina Grace Roslyn Johnson Kathleen Knox,CPAT Kristina Reifsnyder Chris Scharle

MidYorkChapter Christina Borchert Christopher Cordero Catherine Dec Anna Forte-Cardinuto Vikki Smith Patricia Barcomb GeorgiaChapter Elizabeth Janowiak ConnecticutChapter Angela Coppola,CPAT Ana Lima,CPAT Letizia Posta,CPAT Mark Rodrigues,CPAT Tara Sanford Kevin Wert ThreeRiversChapter Nadine Brletic Amanda Krezan TexasBluebonnetChapter L. Daniells Lois Karen Mitchell Mark Sena Terrence Simonds Elaine Stephenson Kayla White IndianaChapter Victoria Hebert Michelle Whittaker-McCracken

WisconsinChapter Amber Whitley Michelle Whittaker-McCracken ChennaiChapter Balakrushna Dash Music City Chapter Dianna Anders,BA StatesWithoutaChapter Donald Borchert Patti Burchett Kimberly Lake Cheryl Marable

from the desk of the membership director

continued from page 36

AAHAM Providing Excellence in the Business of Healthcare Certification, Compliance, Leadership Development, Networking, Advocacy

___________APPLICATION FOR NATIONAL MEMBERSHIP___________

NATIONAL MEMBERSHIP - The fee to become a National member is $175. If you join anytime between July 1st and August 31st, the dues are $140 for the rest of the current year. If you join between September 1st and December 31st, the fee is $210 for the rest of the current year and all of the following year.

STUDENT MEMBERSHIP - The student membership fee is $50. If you join between July 1st and August 31st, the pro-rated dues are $35, and if you join between September 1st and December 31st, dues are $65 (for 15 months of membership). To qualify for student membershipyou must currently be taking 6 credit hours per semester. Student members receive all the benefits of membership with the exception of voting, eligibility for professional certification, and cannot be a proxy for a chapter president at any national board meetings.

NAME: ___________________________________ TITLE: ___________________________________EMPLOYER/ORGANIZATION NAME: ___________________________________________________________________

PRIMARY ADDRESS: _________________________________________________________________________________

CITY: _________________________________________________ STATE: _________________ ZIP: _________________

PHONE: __________________________ FAX: __________________________ LOCAL CHAPTER: __________________

E-MAIL ADDRESS: _____________________________________ WEBSITE: ____________________________________

HOME ADDRESS: ____________________________________________________________________________________

CITY: ______________________________ STATE: ____________ ZIP: ____________ HOME PHONE: ______________

How did you hear about AAHAM? Colleague Publication Website LinkedIn

If referred by AAHAM member, please give name: _________________________________________ _

Membership Type: National Member Student Member

PAYMENT OPTIONS

For Credit Card Payment: Amex Visa MasterCard

Card Number: ________________________________ Exp: ____________

Name as it appears on card: ______________________________________

Signature: _____________________________________________________

Billing Address, if different from above: ____________________________

_____________________________________________________________

For Check Payment:

Please make checks payable to AAHAM and send application with your payment to:

AAHAM Membership 11240 Waples Mill Road, #200 Fairfax, VA 22030 AAHAM Tax ID: 23-1899873

__YOUR PAYMENT TOTAL:__NATIONAL DUES: ___________________LOCAL DUES: _______________________TOTAL ENCLOSED:

Please allow two weeks for processing after your application is received at the national office. Dues are not tax deductible as a charitable contribution, but may be as a business expense. Please note: Membership is on an individual, not institutional, basis and is non-transferable.

AAHAM Providing Excellence in the Business of HealthcareCertification, Compliance, Leadership Development, Networking, Advocacy

Name of Chapter Geographic Location Chapter Dues

Aksarben #01 Nebraska $0.00Greater Florida Buccaneer #03 Tampa/Orlando, Florida area $40.00Carolina #04 North & South Carolina $30.00Evergreen #05 Washington State, West of the Mountains $30.00Gopher #06 Minnesota $40.00Hawkeye #07 Iowa $0.00Hawthorn #08 Missouri $35.00Illinois #09 Illinois $25.00Inland Empire #10 Washington State, East of the Mountains $25.00Keystone #11 Central Pennsylvania $25.00Maryland #13 Maryland $20.00Mountain West #14 Utah $25.00New Jersey #16 New Jersey $35.00Western Reserve #18 Ohio $0.00Northeast PA #19 North East Pennsylvania $30.00Rocky Mountain #21 Colorado $40.00Pine Tree #22 Maine $25.00Rushmore #23 North & South Dakota $0.00South Florida #25 Southern Florida $20.00Western Region #26 California, Arizona, Nevada $0.00Virginia #27 Virginia $25.00Philadelphia #29 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania $35.00Mid-York #31 New York $40.00Tennessee #32 Tennessee $30.00Georgia #33 Georgia $30.00Connecticut #34 Connecticut $35.00Three Rivers #37 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania $30.00Texas Bluebonnet #40 Texas $50.00Indiana #42 Indiana $25.00 Wisconsin #44 Wisconsin $25.00Chennai #49 Chennai, India $0.00Music City #53 Tennessee $25.00

Local Chapters: AAHAM has 32 chapters throughout the US and India. Local chapters offer you more opportunities for education and networking. Please see the listing of local chapters below to help you decide which chapter you should belong to along with yourNational membership

Please Check the Appropriate Codes in Each Category Below

Years in Healthcare:❏ 0-5 ❏ 6-10 ❏ 11-20 ❏ 21-25+

Certification: ❏ CHAM (NAHAM) ❏ CHFP (HFMA) ❏ FHFMA (HFMA) ❏ CHCS (ACA) ❏ Other (please list)

Employer Type: ❏ Vendor/Corporate Partner ❏ Billing ❏ Collection Agency ❏ Consulting ❏ Outsourcing ❏ Software/IT ❏ Provider ❏ Law Firm ❏ Other (please list)

Position: ❏ President, Administrator, Executive ❏ Director, CEO ❏ Partner, Principal, Owner ❏ CFO/Controller, COO, CIO ❏ Vice President ❏ Assistant VP/Assistant Administrator ❏ Director, Manager, Supervisor ❏ Technician ❏ Clinical ❏ Academic ❏ Other (please list)

Responsibility: ❏ Accounting ❏ Administration/Operations ❏ Admitting/Access ❏ Audit ❏ Benefits ❏ Budget ❏ Compliance ❏ Business Development, Sales, Marketing ❏ Information Services/Technology ❏ Managed Care ❏ Medical Records ❏ Medicare/Medicaid ❏ PFS, Patient Billing & Collections ❏ Reimbursement ❏ Third Party Administration ❏ Other (please list)

Summer 2012 41

national calendar

the JHAM networkMovers & Shakers

Don’t forget to give us your information for the Movers & Shakers section of The Journal. This section includes job announcements (changes or promotions), birth and death

announcements, and wedding announcements. Send your “news” to Sharon Galler at Sharon@aaham.org

ChaptersPlease send us notices of your upcoming events/meetings, chapter news and

photos. We would be happy to post them for you!

Address ChangesAll address changes can be made via fax or mail to the National Office or you can

update your information yourself on-line at www.aaham.org.

October 17-19, 2012 ANI, Hyatt Regency Coconut Point, Bonita Springs, Florida

October 16-18, 2013 2013 ANI, Sheraton New Orleans New Orleans, Louisiana

October 15-17, 2014 2014 ANI, Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, California

Follow us on

42 The Journal of Healthcare Administrative Management

September 2012…Hispanic Heritage Month, International Square Dancing Month, National Blueberry Popsicle Month, National Courtesy Month, Chicken Month, Baby Safety Month, Little League Month, Self Improvement Month2 ..........National Beheading Day5 ..........Labor Day, Be Late for Something Day6 ..........Fight Procrastination Day, Read a Book Day7 ..........Grandparent’s Day8 ..........International Literacy Day9 ..........Teddy Bear Day10 ........Swap Ideas Day13 ........Fortune Cookie Day, National Peanut Day, Positive Thinking Day14 ........National Pet Memorial Day -second Sunday in September16 ........Mayflower Day, National Play Doh Day, Working Parents Day18 ........National Cheeseburger Day19 ........International Talk Like A Pirate Day20 ........Oktoberfest begins21 ........International Peace Day, Miniature Golf Day, National Women’s Friendship Day22 ........Business Women’s Day, Elephant Appreciation Day23 ........Dog in Politics Day28 ........AskaStupidQuestionDay,NationalGoodNeighborDay

October2012… Adopt a Shelter Dog Month. Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Domes-tic Violence Awareness Month, National Diabetes Month, National Pizza Month, Na-tional Vegetarian Month, Sarcastic Month; WeeklyCelebrations… Oct 1-7 Customer Service Week, Oct 8-14 Fire Prevention Week1 ..........World Vegetarian Day5 ..........Do Something Nice Day, Oktoberfest in Germany ends, World Teacher’s Day6 ..........Mad Hatter Day, Physician Assistant Day7 ..........World Smile Day8 ..........American Touch Tag Day11 ........It’s My Party Day13 ........Columbus Day14 ........Be Bald and Free Day, National Dessert Day16 ........Bosses Day17 ........Wear Something Gaudy Day19 ........Evaluate Your Life Day21 ........Babbling Day23 ........National Mole Day25 ........Make a Difference Day26 .......Mother-In-Law Day30 ........Mischief Night31 ........Halloween, Increase Your Psychic Powers Day

November 2012… Child Safety Protection Month, National Adoption Awareness Month, National Epilepsy Month, Native American Heritage Month, Peanut Butter Lov-ers Month, Real Jewelry Month, National Sleep Comfort Month 1 ..........Book Lovers Day2 ..........Look for Circles Day, Deviled Egg Day3 ..........Housewife’s Day, Sandwich Day6 ..........Marooned without a Compass Day8 ..........Cook Something Bold Day, Dunce Day11 ........Veteran’s Day13 ........Sadie Hawkins Day, World Kindness Day14 ........Operating Room Nurse Day15 ........Clean Your Refrigerator Day, America Recycles Day16 ........Have a Party With Your Bear Day17 ........World Peace Day20 ........Absurdity Day, Universal Children’s Day22 ........National Adoption Day26 ........Shopping Reminder Day29 ........Square Dance Day30 ........Stay At Home Because You Are Well Day

September 13... Fortune Cookie Day

October... National pizza month

November 1... Book Lovers Day

did you know?By Moayad Zahralddin

With the new AAHAM Coaching Kits, you are equipped to conduct interactive, thorough, and effective sessions to prepare participants for their CPAM/CCAM or CPAT/CCAT exam.

Each kit, packaged in a convenient binder, includes:

• Detailed preparation instructions, including a materials checklist

• Overview of the adult learning principles built into the kit

• Scheduling suggestions so you can customize your timetable

• Tips and suggestions for facilitating each portion of the coaching session

• CD with slides to guide participants through the session

• Materials and instructions for activities including laminated cards for learning games, quizzes, a cross-word puzzle, and more

• Participant guide originals, so you can make copies and include as many exam-takers as you would like

• Extensive glossary of terms included in the exams

 

Each coach will need one copy of the CPAM/CCAM or CPAT/CCAM Exam Study Manual (sold separately); coaching session participants will not need a copy of the Exam Study Manual.

Log on to www.aaham.org for more information and to order yourExam Study Manual today!

Coaching Kits

HANG

ES

INLA

TIT

UDES, CHANGES IN ATTITUD

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TAKING YOUR REVENUE CYCLE TO NEW ALTITUDES

2012 ANI