Ahead of the Revenue Integrity: Maximizing Compliant Reimbursement meeting, taking place on March 14th, the healthXchange had the opportunity to hear from panelists on how they got their start in healthcare, the scope of their current positions, and what they are looking forward to delving into during their respective panel discussions. In this segment, we hear from Willie Brown, the Vice President of Revenue Cycle for Sentara Healthcare, as well as Lashunda Murray, the Manager of Revenue Integrity for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
Enjoy learning more about these inspiring leaders.
Sentara Healthcare
I entered healthcare with a passion for the sciences, and the desire to do something that could help people as well. Already having a sister working as a nurse, I settled on the Medical Laboratory profession. I obtained my Associates of Science in Medical Laboratory Technology and kicked off my healthcare journey. Over the course of my career, I have had the pleasure of learning a great deal about health, healthcare, and the business of healthcare. I have worked in roles including that of a Phlebotomist, Medical Technologist, Lab Supervisor, Compliance Analyst, Systems Analyst, Patient Financial Services Manager, Director of Patient Accounting, and as an AVP and VP of Revenue Cycle.
As Vice President of Revenue Cycle at Sentara Healthcare, based in Norfolk, Virginia, I support the Corporate VP of Revenue Cycle and the VP of Finance. I oversee patient access for our hospital facilities, along with Clinical Revenue Cycle and Revenue Integrity for the enterprise.
I would say that there are many regulatory and revenue compliance concerns as the business of healthcare becomes more complex and politicized. Price transparency and the No Surprise Billing requirements rises to the top of my list as rules and guidance continue to have a large degree of variability. Additionally, reduced reimbursement initiatives like 340B reductions, and quality-based payment structures are of concern.
UT Southwestern Medical Center
I have 22 years of experience in front-end, middle, and back-end revenue cycle, and was inspired by my mother to work in the healthcare industry because her sister, my aunt, worked in Human Resources at a hospital, which she enjoyed, and I decided to give it a try.
I applied for my first role in healthcare back in 2001 as a registration specialist in the emergency room, was offered the job, and have been in healthcare ever since, working in various roles and several positions along the way. I have worked as a registration specialist for a GYN clinic, worked in the Central Business Office for a group of physicians as an insurance processor and payment poster, and worked at three well-known hospitals as a Manager of Collections, for both government, commercial payers, workers compensation, specialty billing, research billing, and third-party liability claims.
My current role as a Manager of Revenue Integrity with UT Southwestern is one that took me beyond my comfort zone; the scope of the position is responsible for planning, monitoring, and directing all activities pertaining to and impacting charges, charge capture, physician education, and coding. I work closely with ancillary departments to establish and maintain positive relations to ensure revenue cycle goals are accomplished. The role is also responsible for department audits, and denial management.
I am well versed I denial recovery and one of the areas of denial management that I am looking forward to discussing is denial prevention and how to respond to not separate reimbursement denials. An effective denial prevention strategy is so important to the hospital revenue and the bottom line, and if a denial is not recovered within a year, it’s considered a loss of revenue.