Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management & Leadership

Stephanie Barber

Accomplished Healthcare Revenue Cycle Executive/Consultant

*** ********** ****

Fayetteville, GA 30214

(404( 964.5476

***********@*****.***

Available remotely, for travel &

relocation

TARGETS: END TO END REVENUE CYCLE/MANAGEMENT - PROCESS IMPROVEMENT - BUSINESS ANALYSIS & STRATEGY

KEY STRENGTHS

Marshaling change and innovation: Proven versatility to span healthcare industries, bringing fresh perspective, new ideas, and keen business intuition to spot growth opportunities, influence business direction, and define and drive value in the marketplace.

~ Identified key deficiencies with revenue cycle processes and worked closely with other department heads to implement operational improvements for the organization, resulting in a $5M improvement in annual reimbursement in an organization of 75 employees; participated in a project management group for a new EMR system for organizational performance improvement efforts at all levels.

~ Improved agency annual audits for patient billing and accounts areas by 27% within first 5 months of tenure.

Integrating multiple disciplines: Mindful of the big picture and skilled at identifying untapped revenue within multifaceted situations that require knowledge of functional areas and best practices from all areas of a company. Orchestrated change initiatives and associated strategy shifts that led a small company with <$300,000 annual revenue to be acquired for $1+ million.

~ Member of management team of mobile community service board organization to the geriatric community that went from 300% in the first year and 200% in the next 2 years each, ultimately winning acquisition offer of $3 million. Cultivating teamwork and strong customer relationships:Known for genuine, empathetic, persuasive interpersonal style that engenders trust while strengthening staff relationships and building cross-departmental cooperation.

~ Traveled locally, investigating state and federal best practices and navigating state and federal regulations to establish compliance for state regulated organization. Strengthening business agility and viability: Apply creativity, analytical rigor, pragmatic overview, and leadership skills to build value, foster flexibility, and keep companies competitive even in the face of declining markets and competitive threats.

~ Paved the way for $9+ million in new revenues annually through research, strategy planning, and project leadership, achieving more than a 27% reimbursement improvement.

QUALIFICATIONS

Strategy Planning & Execution

Business Analysis & Strategy

Consultation

Project Management

Team Leadership

Executive Interactions and

Relationships

Process Mapping & Process

Improvement

Strategic Problem Solving

Root Cause Investigation,

Identification & Analysis

Market Research & Analysis

Corporate Communications

SQL/JAVA/SAS: RDBMS & RDSMS

Benchmarking & KPI Identification

Change Management Performance

Metrics

Financial Modeling, Analysis &

Valuation Methods

Mergers & Acquisitions

Networking, Partnering & Alliance

Building

Staff Development & Mentoring

EHR/EMR Implementation &

Management

Payer Contracts & Negotiations

Claims

Coding

Auditing

Compliance

Policy & Procedure Development

Standard Operating Procedure

Development

Risk Management

Practice Management

Root Cause Investigation, Identification & Analysis: Ability to apply creative investigative and analytical resources by utilizing quality control tools, measurements and problem solving phasing in order to provide rapid feedback to the sources of the reimbursement problems for the organization.

~ Regular utilization of quality control tools and lean six sigma problem solving analytics.

~ Successful at developing denial management and root cause analysis teams/committees that provides data that has been gathered and prepared from the EHR/EMR system to provide insight on revenue cycle and management; and to also aide in more artistic and creative approaches to solutions of revenue cycle in a team environment.

~ Real time integration of all elements of the revenue cycle in order to pinpoint the source and correct and fix those areas in need.

EXPERIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Interim Director, Revenue Cycle (Current Contract) ENT Institute, Alpharetta, GA (2017)

Hired to analyze the end to end revenue cycle processes for this organization, including patient accounting, billing, collections, registration, medical records, and vendor management at all locations, including AL, MS, TN. Oversight and enhancement of insurance eligibility processes, charge processing, claim submission and processing, payment processing, collections and accounts receivable management, denial management, reporting of results and analysis of data, concurrent and retrospective auditing, proper coding and credentialing, insurance contract review and oversight, customer service relative to revenue cycle, training and development relative to revenue cycle, and all other revenue cycle activities.In addition, I reviewed and developed more efficient processes to improve staff and financial performance and generate additional cash flow. Monitored, mentored and developed other departmental directors and managers within the organization for process improvements in their day to day operations.

Director, Revenue Cycle

Salus Behavioral Health, Sandy Springs, GA (2016)

Hired to manage and direct the end to end revenue cycle for 20 plus providers and 100+ facilities across 4 states. Lead teams of internal and third-party professionals on as many as 15 simultaneous projects with combined budgets of approximately $500k annually. Researched and identified new reimbursement opportunities, devised rollout plans to drive rapid implementation of new processes and protocols, updated and re-wrote existing policy & procedure, as well as standard operating procedures to improve the bottom line and extend the lifecycle of the organization. Contributions Snapshot:Played an instrumental role in bringing a new ROI-oriented mindset to the company, shifting internal focus to analyzing the bottom-line of all revenue cycle management activities. Introduced systems for tracking and measuring revenue cycle results which significantly lessened previously wasteful spending, and overhauled archaic practices and processes. Ultimately established cooperation between formerly EDUCATION & CERTIFICATIONS

B.B.A, Business Management with

minor in Business Administration

(currently attending) - University of

Phoenix

CRCE-I, CRCE-P, CIC, CRC, CPB,

CPMA, CPPM

Personal Leadership, Business

Ethics, Leadership, The Science of

Decision Making, Innovation,

Corporate Governance and Working

With Boards

Associations:AAPC, AAHAM,

HFMA

ACCLAIM & RECOGNITION

“ Stephanie Barber stands alone-- as

a brilliant business thinker, a

strategist, a teammate, a leader,

and a warm and valued colleague...I

worked with Stephanie for 5 years as

her manager at McIntosh Trail.

Stephanie has changed how we

work and recognize our success. She

is the brains, heart and soul of our

smartest revenue cycle efforts...I

have never worked with anyone I

enjoyed and valued as much as

Stephanie. She’s empathetic, kind,

thoughtful, wildly funny, generous

and full of wise counsel. She radiates

decency and good will, and people of

every sort seek her out for her astute

perspectives...Stephanie is the finest

revenue cycle executive I know, with

a record to prove it.”

~Former Manager, McIntosh Trail

CSB

“ I have had the opportunity to meet

and work with many outstanding

disconnected departments and opened the door for corporate culture change enabling employees' ability to challenge the status quo and be creative in problem solving. Selected Results :

~ Identified and developed new revenue stream through initiative in spearheading research that uncovered opportunities to expand market share in an underserved market, then led efforts in re-purposing existing products to align with and better meet market needs.

~ Devised plan and strategy to achieve optimal reimbursement for an entity under rapid fire as result of serious competitive threats; formulated comprehensive plan to help Salus Clientele remain agile and responsive to sweeping federal and state law changes. Ultimately saved at-risk contractual accounts.

~ Generated $1 million in additional revenue in 1 month by responding to new coding initiative with newly implemented coding algorithm and clinical documentation rollout plan that built rapid adoption and ultimately resulted in removing this organization from CMS’s high-risk list as well as the dismissal of the quarterly audit 4 months ahead of schedule.

Director, Patient Billing and Accounts

Skyland Trail, Brookhaven, GA (2014 - 2016)

I joined Skyland Trail to improve patient billing, account receivables and collections functions/performances including developing and managing policies and standard operating procedures for best practices. We reached these goals within 4 months of my tenure and received huge acclaim from the staff, the C-suite executives and the organizations board members. These goals were achieved by monitoring and restructuring upstream, midstream and downstream revenue cycle stages to include admissions, scheduling, eligibility verification. authorizations/pre-certifications, financial counseling, clinical documentation & coding, charge capture, pre-billing audits, billing, contract management, payment posting, accounts receivables & patient collections, denial management, appeals, utilization management functions and reporting and benchmarking. Project managed EMR system implementation and product testing. Personally wrote white papers and internal book contributions; created content and managed company wide training sessions. Established new focus groups and committees to concentrate on specific elements and processes within the organizations revenue cycle.

Contributions Snapshot: Brought track record of success promoting and launching-new policy and best practices to a well respected organization. Transformed workflow to incorporate unified strategic processing with easily understood instructions promoting the benefits to end users and overall organizational value. Integrated administrative and clinical meetings to help further initiate change of business strategy to redevelop accountability for specific areas, resulting in dramatic revenue increase that grew to account for 30+% of $14 million total company revenue. Selected Results:

~ Initiated fundamental changes in business strategy that resulted in $10.5 million new revenue. Recognized need to restructure several departments to create focused solutions for specific elements, ultimately culminating in organizational wide compliance practices that significantly improved reimbursement returns. individuals, but few have been in

Stephanie’s league for intellect,

strategic insight, and ability to

communicate... [Stephanie] was

responsible for leading a number of

revenue cycle initiatives.

One...turned out to become the

foundation for a remarkably fast A/R

and collections process. Last year,

this process culminated in our ability

to build and open another campus

for our clientele, as well as allowed

our organization to add more

programs to our services

~Former Manager, Skyland Trail

~ Decreased agency service’s denial rates by 34%.

~ Enhanced agency charge capture process by 62% due to job description revisions/retraining of employees.

~ Improved departmental staffing by adding more competent and seasoned staff. Director, Revenue Cycle

McIntosh Trail CSB, Griffin, GA (2009 - 2014)

I was hired at McIntosh Trail CSB to implement, monitor and improve best practices for end to end revenue cycle and utilization management functions including developing and managing policy and standard operating procedures for client enrollment, charge capture, billing, coding, denials management, claim appeals, A/R, and collections. We accomplished these goals within 7 months of my tenure. Key clientele for this organization were Medicare & Medicaid based policy holders. Contributions Snapshot:Developed reputation for resourcefulness and ability to deliver real value and tangible results on shoestring budgets. Raised awareness and demand for best practices, created end to end revenue cycle workflow, policy and procedure, standard operating procedure and benchmarking, shortened internal billing life cycles, and built a revenue cycle team with leading edge expertise. Created systems and standardized processes that minimized costs while maximizing returns for organization with few investment dollars.

Selected Results :

~ Helped organization with innovative products to identify targets in scheduling, billing, coding, clinical documentation and A/R follow- up. Conducted in-depth research, study and comparison of organization and other entities to pinpoint missed dollars and devised a plan to maximize reimbursement.

~ Set the stage for McIntosh Trail to acquire outstanding balance due from local VA Hospital totaling $2.8 million, this goal was achieved in a 2 month time period in what had originally been expected to take years. Completely repositioned the organizations financial status and shifted the employee moral to focus more on quality control and process improvement which resulted in a 32% reimbursement improvement by the end of the 4th quarter of my first year.

~ Led major projects, negotiations, SOP’s and product implementations to further grow a significantly established healthcare organization in seven months from 77% to more than 98% revenue reimbursement through employee development, mentoring, and effectively communicating with all necessary staff and departments.

~ Improved agency annual audits for financial, billing and clinical documentation areas by 27% within first 7 months of employment. Applied focused and continuous improvement that reduced the billing, claims and eligibility error rates to clean and timely reimbursement from $9M to $22M annually.

Director, Revenue Cycle

Atlanta Diabetes Associates, PC Atlanta, GA (2004 - 2008) I was recruited to Atlanta Diabetes Associates for improving end to end revenue cycle management and day to day CBO operations including but not limited to billing, A/R functions and payment posting, front and back office operations, coding, EMR functionality and all provider relations. Specific requests from the partners (doctors) were to improve overall profitability of service provision, divest assets, and consolidate operations. All of the above goals were met within 2 years of my tenure and received very high regards from the partners and staff.

Contributions Snapshot:Consolidated revenue cycle operations from twelve to five departments, reduced staffing and redundancy.

Successfully managed 15 direct reports and increased revenue by 23% Restored in-house billing and revenue cycle operations that improved gross margins by 25%

Restructured front office staff, clinical service provision, revenue cycle department and remote staff.

Selected Results :

Led conversion and implementation of a more practical EMR system including financials, human resources, revenue cycle and clinical functions, resulting in an annual savings of

$1.7M.

Director, Revenue Cycle

Shepherd Center, Atlanta, GA (1998 - 2004)

Initially hired as quality assurance manager and promoted, 3 months into tenure, to take charge of revenue cycle management for this non-profit organization. Brought critically needed focus to process improvement, articulating value proposition and defining target areas. Traveled to on site and off site executive, staff, administrative, and provide training on compliance and revenue management. Formed enduring key executive relationships within the organization and strong bonds with staff. Contributions Snapshot:Applied focused and continuous improvement that reduced the billing, claims and eligibility error rates to clean and timely reimbursement from $37M to

$50M annually, while improving gross margin by 21%. Enhanced the charge capture process by 25% by revising job descriptions and offering continuing education classes to existing staff.

Selected Results :

~ Consolidated and relocated the admissions and cashiering departments to reduce staffing and operational redundancy.

~ Reassigned secondary duties according to available staff and roles; and improved gross margins by 21%.

~ Benchmarked and monitored the ongoing revenue cycle process including but not limited to billing, charge capture, denial management, appeals and accounts receivables processes, utilization management efforts including reviews for extended stay an retro authorizations.

~Consulted with senior and executive staff when key indicators were not being attained

~Decreased service denial rate by 15%.

OTHER EXPERIENCE

Early career in revenue cycle (self-funded certifications through company bonuses and promotions). Refined relationship building skills and developed focus on meeting company needs that continues to the present excellent financial acumen refined and strengthened through personal interest in revenue cycle management and process improvement. Experienced with virtually all business applications (MS Office, MS Excel, MS Project, MS PowerPoint, Visio Pro), EHR/EMR programs, and SQL. Interim Patient Financial Services Manager (Contract) Piedmont Hospital Atlanta, GA (1998)

A 488 bed facility, I was responsible for implementing process improvement and managing the day to day operations of billing, collections, A/R follow-up, claims management, patient access/admissions, patient registration, financial counseling, coding, HIM/medical records staff performances and workflow processes regarding timely account follow-up activities for Government and Non-Government payers. Direct management resources within a PFS department with particular emphasis on managed care, commercial and government billing, coding, collections and follow up. Knowledge of Medicare, Medicaid and Commercial billing regulations and experience with UB-04 and HCFA- 1500 claim forms billing and follow up functions both electronic and manual.

Lead complex cross functional, cross business unit process improvement and management efforts at all levels of the organization. Worked collaboratively with other Revenue Cycle departments to improve upon organizational processes and management.

Developed and delivered presentations for multiple organizational levels. Assistant Director of Revenue Cycle Operations (Contract) Northside Hospital Dunwoody, GA (1997)

A 455 bed, 1450 physicians not-for-profit facility, I was responsible for assisting with the day to day operations of managing the revenue cycle processes and workflow of the organizations CBO consisting of, but not limited to billing,claims management, collections,A/R follow-up, patient registration, patient access, financial counseling, coding, and medical records.

Lead complex cross functional, cross business unit process improvement and management efforts at all levels of the organization. Worked collaboratively with other departments within the hospital to improve upon organizational processes and management.

Demonstrated expertise in change management, facilitation and project management methods.

Developed and delivered presentations for multiple organizational levels. Lead Supervisor Patient Billing and Accounts (Contract) Saint Joseph’s Hospital (now Emory-Saint Joseph’s) Dunwoody, GA (1996) A 410 bed facility, I was responsible for leading complex cross functional, cross business unit process improvement and management efforts at all levels of the organization for Revenue Cycle efforts.

Implemented large scale improvement programs and projects, and provided consulting on complex system and projects.

Complex problem solving and analytical skills.

In-depth organizational financial analysis from Revenue Cycle operations. Managed the billing, collections, patient access/admissions, financial counseling, coding, HIM/medical records staff performances regarding timely account follow up activities for Government and Non-Government payers.

Direct management resources within a PFS department with particular emphasis on managed care, commercial and government billing, claims management, coding, collections and A/R follow-up.

Knowledge of Medicare, Medicaid and Commercial billing regulations and experience with UB-04 and HCFA- 1500 claim forms billing and follow up functions both electronic and manual.

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