Happenings
Division 54 Highlights Outstanding Employees
Coach of the Quarter
Jessica DelCastillo
Jessica DelCastillo, an accounting manager in Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Reporting and Finance Processing, is known for her great leadership and coaching skills. She encourages her team to work together, which helps them share knowledge and develop new skills. Jessica’s coaching has improved the quality of work, saved money and made customer service better within her department. Because of her outstanding performance, she has won the Division 54 second quarter Coach of the Quarter award.
During monthly team meetings, Jessica often praises team members who have done an excellent job or completed a task outside of their regular duties. She also helps her staff by finding special projects for them to complete that will help them progress in their careers. During the second quarter, four of her team members completed special projects. Jessica has received positive feedback, including this from an associate in her department, “Jessica is always looking for opportunities for us to be challenged and grow in our roles. I have personally learned a lot through the way she leads – with integrity by holding each individual accountable for their work, with strong communication by always keeping the team in the loop, and with compassion by taking into consideration everyone’s point of view.”
Associate of the Month – April 2024
Bodeana Skinner
Bodeana Skinner, an accountant III in Cost Accounting, strives for accuracy and works hard to maintain a 2.1 percent error rate, well below the 6.0 percent goal. Bodeana’s ability to communicate clearly with internal and external customers about changes and make last-minute updates shows just how dedicated she is to providing superior customer service. Her excellent communication skills, willingness to asks questions when she isn’t certain about something and her contributions to a major process improvement initiative are just a few of the reasons she is the April Associate of the Month.
“In the year she has been here, Bodeana has tackled some challenging tasks. When she hits a wall in her work, she doesn’t give up. Instead, she will ask someone who is more knowledgeable or familiar with the topic for their advice on how to proceed—which I find admirable,” said Ganyson Oliver, an accountant II in Cost Accounting. “I believe she is a valuable asset to our team and department and embodies what it means to be associate of the month.”
Associate of the Month – May 2024
David Garrick
With nearly 20 years of accounting experience at Palmetto GBA, David Garrick, an accountant IV, is considered a timekeeping subject-matter expert in the Timekeeping and Budget Administration Department. He has a broad range of responsibilities and works hard to meet or exceed the departmental quality objectives and promote quality throughout the organization, which has earned him the May Associate of the Month award. David’s team members often look to him for answers because of his deep knowledge of the timekeeping software. His expertise made him a valuable resource to management for testing and running reports during a recent software upgrade.
“Anytime I have had a labor posting issue in Costpoint, I can go to David with no issues. He is always ready to answer the question,” said Denise Dearing, an accountant IV.
Associate of the Month – June 2024
Ericka Young
Ericka Young, an accountant II on the CFO Reporting and Financial Processing team, won the June Associate of the Month award for her excellent customer service to coworkers and customers. During that month, she kept a positive attitude during staffing changes that required a shift in her work assignments. Her ability to adapt and her attention to detail helped her team meet key metrics and prevented problems for coworkers and customers.
Ericka also worked on improving her skills by signing up for three classes on Excel and Visual Basic software. She used what she learned to create an Excel macro that automates a weekly review she completes. She wrote instructions for the macro and added them to the policy database. In addition, Ericka helped on six process improvement projects recently submitted by her team members.
Team of the Quarter
Finance CHOPD Team
Team members: Aaron Arnold, Randy Barber, Melissa Cash, Jennifer Catoe, Zack Dedonis, Jessica DelCastillo, Stephen Dunwoody, Sean Garrett, Shanika Goggans, Heather Hastings, Omar Haygood, Shane McMorris, Laura Paulo, Shelley Pendergrass, Sharon Richardson, Hunter Stewart, Savannah Tolonese, Troy West, Ericka Young
In late February 2024, one of the largest billing services, Change Health/Optum, suffered a cyber-attack that crippled the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) billing and payment operations for thousands of providers and suppliers. CMS directed Palmetto GBA and other Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) to financially aid providers suffering from claims processing disruptions associated with this incident. In response, the Finance and Accounting Departments formed a team to receive, review, approve, provide quality control, process payments and daily reports regarding this incident for months to come.
This team, referred to as the Finance CHOPD (Change Health/Optum payment distribution) team, is the Team of the Quarter. These associates also established lines of communication with other departments directly affected by this change, including Provider Outreach and Education and the Provider Call Center, to assist with calls or answer questions. The streamlined process resulted in providers receiving payments within five days, the timeframe mandated by CMS. This team met the requirements of this new mandate and completed their regular responsibilities on time.
Process Improvement of the Quarter
Bank E-Check Transition
Team members: Scott Burkholder, Robbie Cassel, Jennifer Covington, Jamey Dillard, Jayaprakash Gude, Frances Hui, Sonya Martin, Staci Peed, Jane Salter, Joe Strickland
Prior to this process improvement, all e-checks were processed through one bank, then the funds were transferred to another bank the same day. To streamline the bank account reconciliation process and reduce the time each accountant works on this daily task, the Finance and Accounting team coordinated with the eServices Department to change the e-check deposit process.
The new process eliminates the need for a second bank and five additional bank accounts by directly processing the e-checks through a single bank. It also reduces the time management spends reviewing the reports. Since the process improvement eliminates the reconciliation of multiple bank accounts, the quality savings is reported as 100 percent.
