Happenings
Division 54’s Second Quarter Honorees Strengthen Teams and Simplify Claims Work
Coach of the Quarter
Octavia Gates-Huff
Octavia Gates-Huff helps colleagues understand not only how to complete a task, but why the process matters. As a Claims Policy Analyst II, she shares her knowledge and asks questions that encourage employees to think through their work. This approach helps colleagues expand their skills rather than simply rely on an answer. Octavia also prepares reports that guide workload planning and help the team monitor its goals. Her proactive support makes her dependable resource and positive influence across the team.
Team of the Quarter
RRB SMAC Medical Review Leadership
Team members: Mary Cooper, Susan Coyle and Elizabeth Tompkins
The Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) Specialty Medicare Administrative Contractor (SMAC) Medical Review Leadership Team guided the department through significant organizational changes while keeping employees focused on their goals. The team boosted morale through flexible scheduling and created new opportunities for employees to expand their knowledge. They are dedicated to the team’s success and have an open-door approach that encourages employees to share ideas that can improve processes. Under the team’s guidance, the department continued meeting its performance goals, completed successful audits and achieved its strongest quality result in nine years.
Process Improvement of the Quarter
Bulk Claim Retrieval Guide
Team members: Deborah Benning, Danielle Brown, Lynne Culler, Malashia Davis, Gabriele Godbee, Terra Holt, Andrew Hunter, Laren King, Sheila Littleton, Daniel Mauro, Janet Pleiman, Arrie Sanchez
A work instruction was updated to give employees a more efficient way to restore large volumes of archived claims. Instead of processing claims individually, employees can now submit a single request to have them restored in bulk. The revised instructions clearly explain how to submit the request, giving employees a consistent process to follow. Documenting this method also makes it easier for the team to handle similar requests in the future. This change reduces manual work, shortens processing time and allows staff to focus on other responsibilities.
