Happenings
M Team Celebrates Q4 2024 Outstanding Performers
Associate of the Month – October
Cindy Glass
Division 1M/6M, also called the M Team, has named Cindy Glass, an auditor III in Audit and Reimbursement, the October Associate of the Month. Cindy is recognized for her exceptional customer service, quality work and team spirit. She consistently makes a concerted effort to help both her peers and the provider community, stepping in to assist with special projects and process improvements. Known for her patience and thoroughness in training new employees, Cindy ensures the department maintains high standards. Her willingness to help and mentor others, even with a full workload, highlights her dedication and positive attitude. Cindy's contributions have significantly enhanced departmental efficiency and effectiveness.
Associate of the Month – November
Sharon Wood
The November Associate of the Month is Sharon Wood, a lead auditor in Audit and Reimbursement. During the fourth quarter, she played a crucial role in a special project. Sharon took the initiative to organize old cost report files, some more than 20 years old. She also helped new auditors set up the documentation for the project. Sharon’s proactive support enabled a new auditor to submit a review within 60 days of joining the department. To streamline communication and documentation, Sharon created a Microsoft Teams chat group. As a result, associates completed project assignments significantly more quickly and the new hires learned vital information at an accelerated speed.
Associate of the Month – December
James Kirk
James Kirk, an instructional writer for Provider Outreach and Education, is the December Associate of the Month because of his outstanding dedication and optimism. Despite a significant increase in workload, he responded to internal and external customer requests with a positive attitude and high-quality deliverables. His branding and marketing materials contributions to two end-of-year conferences were pivotal to their success. James even delayed his vacation to ensure his work met quality standards on time, resulting in high Qualtrics scores and positive feedback.
James’ commitment to excellence and clarity was invaluable as he reviewed more than 50 webinar and speaker presentations in 2024. His ability to bring his colleague’s ideas to life and his commitment to clear communication and adherence to timelines have made a significant impact on his team's success.
Coach of the Quarter
Melissa Carpenter
The M Team has named Melissa Carpenter, a manager in Medicare Reimbursement, Coach of the Quarter for her exceptional leadership and dedication during the fourth quarter of 2024. At her director’s request, she took on additional assignments, ensuring tasks were completed accurately despite challenging updates. Melissa led the "Closed Loop" Quality Project, trained her team and served as the point of contact. She reorganized workloads to improve quality control and involved senior staff in developing new processes. Melissa is also valued for being proactive in addressing provider inquiries and in identifying opportunities for process improvements. During this period, she submitted two quality improvement initiatives. An outstanding role model, Melissa regularly seeks ways to enhance processes and support her team.
Team of the Quarter
Reopenings Team
Team members: Michelle Anderson, Meredith Cate, Cindy Glass, Summer Hayes, Vanessa Holmes, Uday Ponkshe, Lamont Porter, Angela Robinson, Brittany Sandifer, Makpal Shotbassova, Rhonda Winchester, Sharon Wood
The Reopenings Team in the Audit and Reimbursement Department was recognized as the Team of the Quarter for their exceptional work on a special project. From March to December 2024they processed more than 2,500 reopenings, nearly seven times the normal workload. To meet this challenge, the team developed new systems and templates to streamline the review process and they collaborated effectively with providers and other departments to ensure cost reports were accurate. Their efforts resulted in no issues during the 2024 quality reviews for two contracts. The team's dedication to efficiency, innovation and open communication with management ensured the project's success while setting a new standard for future projects.
Process Improvement of the Quarter
Real-Time Automated Chatbot
Team members: Venu Boppa, Renea Cloud, Steve Durney, Gerald Eichelberger, Sherri Gibbons, Amukta Jambula, Marlowe Leverette, Katie McLean, Othen Prock, Derek Roberts
Each month, website chat agents were responding to more than 1,500 claim status inquiries. Providers preferred the chat service to logging into their eServices account or calling the interactive voice response system. In response, members of the E-Commerce Department developed Sage, a real-time automated chatbot. Sage lets providers easily and quickly access claim status information. This frees time for customer service representatives to respond to more complex questions. In its first month, Sage exceeded projected savings in both time and operation costs. As the chatbot’s popularity grows, the team expects the savings to increase. Sage, the real-time automated chatbot, has been named the M Team’s Process Improvement of the Quarter because it provides a new option for providers, enhances efficiency for chat agents and saves time.
