ELENA J MEARS, MHA

Fairlawn, OH *****

Mobile 216-***-**** Email: ad3vcp@r.postjobfree.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/elenamears227GH

EXPERIENCE

Summa Health System 07/2022 – 10/2023

Regional ASC

Manager/Administrator, Medina Ambulatory Surgery Center

Manage day to day operations of a 3 OR / Pre-Op /PACU multi-specialty, free standing surgery center. Scheduling, center KPIs, patient registration, insurance verification, payments, and collections

Compliance: Ensure compliance with all Federal and State government regulations, accrediting bodies, and center policy and procedures

Quarterly reporting of center results to Board of Directors and quality tracking to CDC’S NHSN, ODH, and HQR (ASCQR program measures) for continuous improvement

Responsible for more than 50 surgeon, CRNA, and nursing credentialing, performance appraisals, and new team member onboarding

Revenue Cycle: Charge capture, audit coding and claims, remittances, and forensic auditing. Generated appeals to maximize reimbursement. Forensic audits found more than $460K in billable revenue

Budget estimation and analysis of vendor and supplier contracts to reduce operating costs by 10%

Execute payer enrollments, invoice reconciliation, staff payroll, patient satisfaction tracking, problem resolution, and the center financial assistance program

Administer center support services: SPD, laundry, medical gases, housekeeping, and equipment repair

Accomplishments: Project management of conversion from paper charting and manual billing to EPIC Foundation EMR system. Center growth: 100 cases per month to 200+ cases per month.

Purdue University Global 10/2019 – 04/2022

Full Time Master’s Degree Student

Obtained Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration during Covid-19 Lockdown

Independent Consultant, University Heights, Ohio

Advised and assisted local medical offices with staff management, billing, and process improvement

National Coalition of Healthcare Sharing Ministries, Canton, OH 10/2018 – 10/2019

Medical cost sharing program

Sr. Manager Provider Relations

Created, developed, documented, and implemented best practices: e.g., negotiation tools, procedure manuals, team resource binder, customer service etiquette, patient advocacy and accountability for patient experience

Interviewed, trained, directed, and managed staff of 18 medical insurance customer service reps

Collaborated with patient team e.g., V.P Patient Services, RNs, Social Workers

Responsible for financial oversight of patient team and financial agreements formed with providers. Monthly negotiations averaged $2M, saving members 30-50% healthcare costs

Negotiated short term and long-term contracts which assisted customers with medical costs

Teamed with nursing to develop quality assurance reporting process and best practices

Member of inhouse software development team in the role of needs identification, voice of the customer, and technical operations

De-escalated customer complaints, advance potential legal actions to Risk Management

Problem solving via forensic audits of incomplete, delayed, or bottlenecked transactions

Accomplishments: Created and developed customer service etiquette seminar which was chosen by senior management to implement companywide including a 100+ employee call center. Taught team to achieve WIN-WIN for the patient, healthcare providers, insurance providers

Healogics Inc., Massillon, OH 01/2011 – 5/2018

Outsourced company assisting Affinity Hospital in Wound care

Director of Wound Care

Converted department from paper charting to new electronic medical record (EMR) software tool e.g.,

I-Heal, Cerner

Executed evidence-based solutions and documented as best practices.

Educated and coached patients, nurses, and area physicians on patient treatment plans, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and the wound healing process.

Analyzed market competitors to develop differentiation strategy for center

Prepared for Joint Commission visits and audits

Financial oversight of Medicare/Medicaid and private insurance billing along with case investigation and denial process

Member of hospital leadership team, facilitating cooperation between wound care center and specialty departments, e.g., cardiovascular intervention, orthopedics, CATH lab, and radiology

Implemented staff education program with department directors that reduced hospital-acquired wounds

Measured wound program effectiveness through industry survey data e.g., HCAHPS and patient satisfaction surveys e.g., Press Ganey

Responsible for the navigating the politics between multiple directors e.g., Medical Directors, Hospital Director while at the same time ensured compliance with clinical guidelines and appropriate patient care

Maintained wound center charge master and set hospital pricing

Developed the content for patient education on hospital website e.g., wound care, foot and skin care, and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBO)

Accomplishments: Utilized healing best practices in offering evidence-based support in achieving healing rates of 77% (net rate of 94%) within 14 weeks. Exceeded revenue goals for 5 years.

Our365 Corporation, Cleveland, OH 08/2000 – 10/2009

Digital newborn photography

Providing a warm and heartfelt experience photographing baby’s first moments

Business Development Director 07/2008-10/2009

Marketed photography services to leadership and obstetrics departments in hospitals and hospital

networks across the United States

Director, Hospital Operations 02/2008-07/2008

Ensured district managers complied with industry guidelines e.g., HIPAA, OSHA, patient safety

Regional Training Manager 02/2007-02/2008

Trained Managers and photographers in 5 states as to use a new software platform and leverage it to drive sales

District Manager 11/2000-03/2007

Hired, trained, and managed team of 100+ hospital account reps, exceeding sales objectives.

Account management of 70+ hospitals in a three-state territory

Implementation Specialist 08/2000-11/2000

Finalized conversion from film to digital photography in 30 hospital accounts

Accomplishments: Conversion of hundreds of hospital accounts to digital platforms. Promoted 4 times in 9 years. Awarded “Growing Family Division of the Year” and “Leadership Excellence Awards

COMPUTER SKILLS

EPIC Foundation/OpTime, SIS/Vision, Availity, Ascend, Strata, Axiom, MS Office [Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Publisher, MS/Teams], Citrix, Taleo, UKG/Kronos, I-Heal, coding ICD-9 and ICD-10, Insurer Provider Portals, CRM

EDUCATION

Purdue University Global

Master of Healthcare Administration

The Pennsylvania State University

Bachelor of Science, Marketing

MEMBERSHIPS

American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Member

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