Happenings
Division 54 Honors its Outstanding Associates
Associate of the Month – January 2024
Denise Dearing
Denise Dearing’s average invoice error rate in 2023 was zer0 percent, which is a reflection of her expertise and consistent commitment to quality. That is not the only reason she is Division 54’s January Associate of the Month. Denise, an accountant IV in Medicare Government Cost Reporting, consistently provides excellent customer service to both internal and external customers. Her expertise in essential software programs makes her the go-to person for answers and help with process improvement initiatives. Her depth of knowledge is why she is asked to train new hires and entire departments on new processes. Ganyson Oliver, a fellow accountant, noted, “Denise is an invaluable asset to cost accounting. I am sure that all of us in cost accounting (including myself) have needed her help on a myriad of occasions and she has always been there. She is an excellent teacher, provides amazing guidance, always knows what to do, and a great person of whom to bounce ideas off.”
Associate of the Month – February
Shane McMorris
Shane McMorris, an accounting technician II in Medicare Finance Accounting, has a positive attitude, is eager to understand processes, never hesitates to help team members, takes initiative, ask questions, and is someone people can rely on. She is also the February Associate of the Month. With her great attention to detail and impressive level of efficiency, Shane always processes her work on time. In January 2024, she created a request for change within the iFlow software that ensured correct labelling and processing for a specific type of request. Shane also served as a primary tester for the change and worked with the information technology team until it was completed. Her work ethic and commitment to excellence sets the standard for her team.
Associate of the Month – March
Hunter Stewart
The March Associate of the Month is Hunter Stewart, an accountant II in Medicare Finance Reporting. Considered a reporting and audit subject matter expert, she is a valuable resource for many because of her depth of knowledge and problem-solving skills. When the department receives an inquiry, Hunter is usually one of the first people to begin researching the issue. She then clearly and directly communicates her detailed research results to the team. Hunter consistently provides exceptional customer service to her teammates, other internal functional areas and external customers.
Hunter’s attention to detail and organizational skills contribute greatly to the success of the annual audits. She carefully reviews and quickly addresses discrepancies in documents before sending them to the auditor. Hunter also leads and coordinates multiple meetings during the audit. “I have worked closely with Hunter on the SSAE audit since 2020,” said Steve Scannell, audit supervisor at Davis Farr LLP. “I attribute a lot of the success that I have in my sections to Hunter's organizational skills, task-oriented approach and excellent communication. She consistently exceeds my expectations each year.”
Coach of the Quarter
Freyda Sherard
Freyda Sherard is the Coach of the Quarter because she shares her knowledge and encourages and motivates others to try new tasks and take on additional responsibility. A lead overpayment recovery analyst in Accounts Receivable, Freyda’s leadership and coaching skills excel when it comes to Medicare secondary payer (MSP) knowledge. She has great communication skills and regularly shares and reviews training materials with associates to ensure they understand denial codes and avoid common errors. This helps the team work efficiently and accurately.
“She is a great mentor, and she shares her knowledge freely to educate others,” said Lourine Benefield, an accounting technician III in Accounts Receivable. “Freyda wears many hats which help the MSP and audit teams to be successful. She is always willing to meet and discuss any issues and readily provides a solution.” She also provides positive guidance and clear instructions geared toward teaching instead of just correcting.
Team of the Quarter
Cost Accounting
Team members: ShaWuana Brown, Denise Dearing, Naketia Goodman, Emily Mills, Ganyson Oliver, Owen Pirkle, Harper Shull, Bodeana Skinner, Sujata Sunthankar, John Thaler and Keith Warnick
The Cost Accounting Department started 2024 with only one team member with experience conducting the year-end close process. To complete the process the one experienced accountant had to first train the seven other accountants and two accounting supervisors on the processes. Through effective training and efficient teamwork, the cost accounting team not only completed the year-end close, but they did it one day ahead of schedule. Despite being a new team, they have met their key measures every month, provided superior service to internal and external customers and submitted three time-saving process improvements.
Process Improvement of the Quarter
Service Center Reclassify Journal Entry
Team members: Ganyson Oliver and Harper Shull
The Process Improvement of the Quarter generates two required journal entries with 14 fewer steps. The original method input two Cognos data analytics reports into two Access databases (one for each report). The databases manipulated the numbers and formatting to produce four reports (two pdfs and two Excel files). The two Excel files were converted to CSV (comma-separated values) files, which served as journal entries for completing the process.
With the new method, a single Excel file generates the journal entries needed to complete the process. To do this, the Excel file automatically imports the two Cognos reports and generates two pdfs and two CSV files. The new method, which consistently produces the same results as the original method in far less time, is more efficient and cost-effective.
