Happenings
Division 28 Celebrates Fourth Quarter Standouts
Coach of the Quarter
Chris Allarde, manager for Part B Medical Review, is Division 28’s Coach of the Quarter for the 2023 Fourth Quarter. Since the beginning of 2023, Chris’s team has exceeded its annual workload goals through a streamlined process. He communicates frequently with his team members via email, phone calls and monthly and impromptu meetings. His team values his calm demeanor and collaborative and responsive nature. They know they can count on him to resolve issues and to get them what they need to be successful. He has been especially effective at setting expectations for new staff and developing their skills and knowledge base. By coaching team members to take on additional tasks, he prepares them for new roles.
Associate of the Month—October
Division 28’s October Associate of the Month is Jan Kirven, a medical reviewer III for Part A Medical Review. Jan is known for her excellent provider customer service and her extensive Medicare knowledge. She is a valuable resource to fellow reviewers and is always willing to take the time to teach others. Jan is an excellent trainer of new reviewers learning their first line of business (LOB) and seasoned reviewers learning additional LOBs. She is a dedicated and resourceful reviewer and is highly respected by her team.
Associate of the Month—November
The Associate of the Month for November is Jennifer Williamson, a medical reviewer III in the Data Strategy and Edit Effectiveness Department. Known for being reliable, hard-working and versatile, Jennifer helps ensure the team achieves its goals. Her coworkers value her consistent commitment to the team as well as her positive and supportive nature. Her willingness to help teammates facing challenges does not go unnoticed. She remains calm and kind while using her skills and knowledge to find effective workarounds to solve problems and complete work on time.
Associate of the Month—December
M. Eileen Hamill, an operations analyst in Data Strategy and Edit Effectiveness, is the December Associate of the Month. Eileen is prized for her excellent customer service, responsiveness and impressive efficiency. A problem solver who persists through challenges, Eileen is an outstanding teammate who helps ensure operations run smoothly. In addition to contributing to other associate’s process improvements, she created a single status report that reduced the need for multiple emails and reports. She is a great communicator who is approachable and easy to talk to. Eileen takes great pride in her work and will ask questions when she is uncertain to ensure that work is completed correctly the first time. When her team encounters a problem, she makes it feel manageable. She is a positive, uplifting person who brings laughter and joy to the workday.
Team of the Quarter
Data Strategy Department
Team members: Terri Artlip, Alesha Barr, Sheila Bell, Rashawne Coates, Kayce Coleman-Adkins, Cheryl Evans, Mary Evans, Chrystal Felder, Debra Goodman, M. Eileen Hamill, Brae’Lyn Holloway, Janet Jackson, Denise Phillips, Molly Reynolds, Shaunice Richardson, Shavonne Samuel, Richard Sowell, Chantel Warren, Leslie Wells, Jennifer Williamson
The Data Strategy team was named division Team of the Quarter because they effectively coordinate their efforts through scheduled and ad hoc meetings. They work diligently to meet the needs of departments that rely on them and assist other areas to resolve technical or workload issues. They helped the Provider Contact Center with inquiries and resolved them in less than 24 hours of receipt. The team’s efforts to achieve excellence on their required quality initiatives were successful. They exceeded expectations for on-time reports each week and the clinical associates earned a 100 percent passing rate for Jurisdictions J and M, with successful desk audits and no findings. During the fourth quarter, they submitted or participated in four process improvements, including the implementation of a training job aid for new employees and automating the edit effectiveness process.
Process Improvement of the Quarter
Edit to Target Probe and Educate Report
The Process Improvement of the Quarter reduced the amount of time it takes to research the providers that need to be removed from the Targeted Probe and Educate report. Terri Artlip, Sheila Bell, Lynne Culler and Cheryl Evans in the Jurisdiction M and Jurisdiction J Data Strategy and Edit Effectiveness Department devised the process improvement. They added “EditEndDate” to the automated claims processing systems (ACPS) software script that generates the report. Prior to this improvement, staff had to send email requests to the ACPS department to run processes to change the report. The improvement reduced the process time and the number of people involved in the process.
