Speakers
Suzan Berman, CPC, CEMC, CEDC
As the Senior Manager of Coding and Compliance for the Departments of Surgery and Anesthesiology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Suzan Berman-Hvizdash is responsible for teaching more than 300 staff/faculty documentation and billing practices. She also oversees the coding operation for these specialties.
Berman-Hvizdash serves on the Ingenix Advisory Board and the Editorial Advisory Board Member for Eli Publishing. She is a former member of the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) National Advisory Board and currently sits on the AAPCCA Board of Directors.
She speaks both locally and nationally for organizations such as the University of Pittsburgh, The Coding Institute, AAPC, MGMA, and Ingenix. Recently, she acquired ACE-Med, an education and auditing consulting firm.
Sheri Poe Bernard, CPC, CPC-H, CPC-P
Recently, Sheri Poe Bernard was Vice President of Clinical Coding Content for American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC), where she worked for two years. Prior to joining AAPC as an employee, she served on its National Advisory Board for eight years and on the executive team of that board for four years. Previously, Ms. Poe Bernard developed clinical coding products at Ingenix for 15 years. She is an expert in ICD-9 and ICD-10 coding and a frequent speaker at national conventions.
Johnny Childress, RN, CAC
Johnny Childress, 12-year Veteran of the USAF, served in the Gulf War and was separated with a service-connected disability. He graduated Louisiana State University at Alexandria in 1995 with an AD in nursing. Johnny has been a VA employee since 1993 and was selected to work on the VA’s ICD-9 to ICD-10 conversion (mapping) project. He has served as a Student Nurse Technician (SNT), Staff RN, and currrently holds the position of Clinical Applications Coordinator (CAC).
In 2001, he was appointed as the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 16 Lead CAC, and was listed as the Subject Matter Expert for Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) and related software applications. Johnny also worked on a standardization committee for data within VISN 16. Selected to work with VA Nursing Outcome Database (VANOD), he designed and implemented nationally released templates and reminders and served on the national clinical reminders committee.
Married to Pamela Childress, RHIA CCS; father of five beautiful daughters (one is a US Marine); Step-Father of two; grandfather of 6 2/3 grandkids (3 boys, 3 girls), and one unknown due in August.
Andrea Clark, RHIA, CCS, CPC-H
Andrea Clark is a nationally prominent Health Information Management (HIM) consultant who focuses specifically on outpatient coding and billing systems, charge capture, coding and billing, data integrity, and outpatient compliance training services. Ms. Clark has over 20 years of hospital outpatient coding, information systems, operational and compliance training experience, including hospital-based and freestanding day surgery sites, emergency room, hospital-based clinics, and ancillary diagnostic services areas.
Ms. Clark is the founder of Health Revenue Assurance Associates, Inc., a nationwide consulting and education group specializing in Revenue Integrity™ strategic analyses and compliance-focused implementation for hospitals, physicians, and freestanding centers. The company provides in-depth coding and documentation audits, customized education/certification programs, Ambulatory Payment Classifications (APCs) strategic position and operational assessments, chargemaster/CDM data integrity reviews and updates, and seminar speaking engagements.
Barbara Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC-OTO, CPC-H, CPC-P,
CPC-I, CHCC
Barbara Cobuzzi is the Director of Outreach Programs for the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC). Formerly, she sat on the National Advisory Board as well as the Executive Board of the National Advisory Board of the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC). She is the consulting editor of The Coding Institute's Otolaryngology Coding Alert and Medical Office Billing and serves on the editorial advisory board of various publications. Ms. Cobuzzi has conducted educational classes for the American Academy of Otolaryngology / Head and Neck Surgery, state societies of Otolaryngology, and the American College of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, including a CME course at the AAO/HNS Washington Advocacy week in 2006 on Coding and Documentation. She has also spoken for the AAPC, PAHCOM, AAMA, and MGMA among other organizations and is a nationally sought-after consultant, expert witness, and educator.
Cheryl D'Amato, RHIT, CCS
As Director of Health Information Management (HIM) for Ingenix, Cheryl D'Amato is responsible for the development, enhancement, and maintenance of Ingenix data files with a facility coding focus. She brings to Ingenix more than two decades of experience in implementing and managing utilization, quality assurance, and health information coding systems.
Ms. D'Amato has bylined articles for numerous industry publications and currently co-authors the well-read CCS-Prep! column in Advance for Health Information Professionals. In addition, she has conducted presentations on coding, medical necessity, OPPS, and compliance at more than 50 industry seminars, webinars, and conferences including the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) National Convention.
D'Amato maintains many professional affiliations. She is currently a member of AHIMA's Coding Community Council and has served as a member of the Clinical Classification Practice Council, CCS-P Job Analysis Task Force, and Coding Policy and Strategy Committee. She has also held several high-ranking positions on the board of the AHIMA's Society for Clinical Coding (SCC), including director and chair-elect. She also is a member of Connecticut Health Information Management Association (CTHIMA), from which she received the Distinguished Member Award and served as president and delegate along with numerous other positions.
Nancy Enos, FACMPE, CPC, CPC-I, CEMC
Mrs. Nancy Enos has 30 years of operations experience in the ever-changing practice management field. Ms. Enos joined Ingenix in 1995 and served as the Director of Physician Services until July 2008. Currently, she is an independent consultant and coding educator.
As an approved PMCC Instructor by the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC), Ms. Enos has provided consultative services and seminars in CPT® and ICD-9 Coding, Evaluation and Management (E/M) coding and documentation, encounter form analysis, chart auditing, compliance plan implementation, and various front office and clinical staff seminars. Ms. Enos frequently speaks on coding, compliance, and reimbursement issues to audiences from the provider community specializing in primary care and surgical specialties.
In addition, Ms. Enos is a Fellow of the American College of Medical Practice Executives and serves as an independent consultant with the MGMA Health Care Consulting Group in Denver, CO. She is a member of the Eastern Section Executive Committee for MGMA and the Founding President of the Rhode Island chapter of the AAPC; professional organizations that provide continuing education to practice administrators and certified coders.
Lee Ewin, MD
Dr. Ewin is a Certified Professional Coder and Physician Lead for Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California ambulatory electronic medical record, which has been deployed to over 30,000 physicians and staff. He is board certified in Family Medicine, practicing outpatient and hospital medicine. He teaches at the University of California, Riverside.
Georgette Gustin CPC, CCS-P, CHC
In her role of Director, Professional Physician Services Clinical Documentation & Audit Operations, Georgette is responsible for overseeing various types of audits, monitoring and training for physician professional services at Southern California Permanente Medical Group (SCPMG). SCPMG is one of the largest multi-specialty group practices in the nation with over 6,000 physicians. Georgette partners and works closely with the physician coding and documentation liaisons, electronic medical record (EMR) clinical team, revenue cycle, operations, physician education and various leaderships team within and across the entire Kaiser Permanente organization.
Georgette has over 20 years experience in the healthcare industry of which 13 have been in consulting with Big 4 professional services firms. Prior to her consulting work, Georgette spent five years working for a Midwest Medicare Part B carrier as well as over two years working for a Faculty Practice Plan. Her experience includes working with clients on various clinical coding, billing and compliance related projects, designing and implementing education and training programs, establishing internal monitoring and tracking systems and various litigation support services.
Georgette served as the President of the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) National Advisory Board from April 2001-April 2003. She is a Certified Professional Coder (CPC), Certified Coding Specialist – Physician (CCS-P), and Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC).
Jillian Harrington, MHA, CPC, CPC-P,
CPC-I, CCS-P, MHP
Ms. Harrington serves as President and CEO of ComplyCode, a health care compliance consulting firm based in Binghamton, NY, and has more than 16 years of experience in the health care profession. She is the former Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Privacy Official of a large academic medical center, and also has extensive background in both the professional and technical components of CPT®/HCPCS and ICD-9-CM coding. She teaches CPT® coding and is an approved instructor of the Professional Medical Coding Curriculum, awarded by the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC). She has spoken frequently on health care compliance and health information management issues at regional and national professional conferences.
Ms. Harrington holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Care Administration from Empire State College and a Master of Science degree in Health Systems Administration from the Rochester Institute of Technology. She is a member of the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) and a former member of their National Advisory Board, a member of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA), and is an associate of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE).
Anita Hart, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P
Ms. Anita Hart's experience includes 15 years conducting and publishing research in clinical medicine and human genetics for Yale University, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research conclusions have been published in several peer-reviewed journals. In addition, Ms. Hart has supervised medical records management, health information management, coding and reimbursement, and workers' compensation issues as the office manager for a physical therapy rehabilitation clinic. Ms. Hart is an expert in physician and facility coding, reimbursement systems, and compliance issues, author of the Complete Coding Tutor, ICD-9-CM Changes: An Insider's View, and has served as technical consultant for numerous other publications for hospital and physician practices. Currently, Ms. Hart is the Ingenix product manager and technical editor for the ICD-9-CM, DRG, and ICD-10 product lines.
Nancy Hirschl, B.S., CCS
Nancy Hirschl possesses 30 years of experience in the fields of health information and revenue management. As President and Founder of Hirschl and Associates, Nancy develops, administers, and manages services that address best practices in revenue integrity. Nancy has developed and implemented hospital-based inpatient and outpatient revenue integrity consulting services, Medicare Part C risk-adjusted data mining, auditing and training services, DRG, APC, and RAC data mining software, and nationally celebrated training programs.
Laurie Johnson, MS, RHIA,
CPC-H
Laurie Johnson brings over twenty years of experience
in health information management, quality assessment, risk
management, utilization management, and coding and reimbursement.
Her current specialization is APC/DRG review, RAC
education/services, ICD-9-CM/CPT®/HCPCS coding and
education, and transitioning to ICD-10-CM/PCS. One recent exciting
project was working with the National Health Services in the U.K. regarding coding and documentation audit strategies.
Previous to joining Ingenix, Ms. Johnson directed auditing,
educational, and training programs for several nationally recognized
consulting firms. She has affiliations with numerous state and
national health care associations including AHIMA, Pennsylvania
Health Information Management Association, Western Pennsylvania
Health Information Management Association, and American Academy of
Procedural Coding.
Ms. Johnson has also been a featured speaker at more than twenty
conferences and seminars including AHIMA audioconferences. She was a
four-year member of AHIMA’s Classification and Clinical Terminology
Practice Council and is a current member of Quality Initiatives and
Secondary Data Practice Council. She holds a B.S. in Health Records
Administration from University of Pittsburgh, and a M.S. in
Healthcare Information Systems, also from University of
Pittsburgh.
Claire Kapilow, MSM
As Director of Regulatory Affairs and Compliance for Ingenix, Claire Kapilow is responsible for tracking and analyzing health care regulations, identifying those that affect Ingenix customers and business partners, and translating those regulations into requirements for software and data. She has more than two decades of professional experience and is an expert in case mix classification systems, prospective payment, Medicare reimbursement in all settings, and software development for the management and analysis of health care information. Prior to Ingenix, she served as Director of Administrative Information Systems at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center (CPMC), one of the largest health care providers in the country. In this capacity, she directed the design, development, installation, and operations of all hospital corporate systems including patient management, accounts receivable, and contract management.
Ms. Kapilow maintains professional affiliations with the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) and the National Uniform Billing Committee (NUBC). She has co-authored articles in several well-respected publications and conducted seminars on case mix management, prospective payment, and other topics. Ms. Kapilow holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics from Brown University as well as a Master of Science degree in Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Rosemarie Nelson, MS, Principal, MGMA Consulting
Rosemarie Nelson's experience as a medical office manager and in information technology, combined with her years of consulting to physicians and practice professionals, gives her a unique insight into the needs and challenges facing today's physicians and the future for medical practices. Ms. Nelson conducts educational seminars and provides keynote speeches on a variety of health care technology and operational topics. She has authored numerous articles on practice management issues and her seminar presentations and publications have been well received by physicians, administrators, office managers, and staff throughout the country.
As a medical practice consultant, Ms. Nelson has significant expertise in system implementation. Key to her success is the business analysis method for evaluating process and needs and applying solutions to information systems applications. As a manager in the multi-manufacturer Office of the Future project, she led new technology planning and development for improved clinical operations. Ms. Nelson has managed project implementation teams as well as software engineers in the design, implementation, and training of medical practice software. Drawing upon diverse operational, clinical, and financial experience, Rosemarie provides practical solutions to help medical groups to reach their objectives successfully.
Nannette Orme, CPC, CEMC, PCS
Ms. Nannette Orme, Clinical Technical Editor for Ingenix, has more than 15 years of experience in the health care profession with extensive background in CPT®, HCPCS, and ICD-9-CM coding. Prior to joining Ingenix, Ms. Orme was a consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers with expertise in physician audits and education, compliance, litigation support for Medicare self-disclosure cases, chargemaster maintenance, and E/M, multispecialty, and emergency department coding. Ms. Orme has presented at national professional conferences and contributed articles for several professional publications. She is a member of the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) and the Utah Medical Group Management Association (UMGMA).
Glenda J. Schuler, RHIT, CPC,
CPC-H
Ms. Schuler has more than 30 years of experience with the health care industry in all areas of medical records, as well as utilization review and patient business services. She has working knowledge of third-party reimbursement, electronic submission of claims, and billing and collection issues. As a health care consultant, her areas of expertise include ICD-9-CM, DRG, and hospital CPT® coding and ambulatory payment classifications (APCs), as well as chargemaster reviews. She has developed and conducted coding and reimbursement seminars and has been a featured speaker nationwide on the topic of Medicare APC groups and their impact on hospital operations. Ms. Schuler is an active member of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC).
Melinda Stegman, MBA, CCS
Ms. Stegman has more than 25 years of experience in health information management (HIM) and has held several consulting and management positions in the HIM arena. She specializes in training related to inpatient coding and DRG issues, outpatient coding issues and ambulatory payment classifications (APCs) for HIM professionals, software developers, and clients; developing outpatient billing/coding compliance tools for major accounting firms; and managing HIM consulting practices. Ms. Stegman is a regular contributing author for Advance for Health Information Management Professionals and for the Journal of Health Care Compliance. She has performed coding assessments and educational sessions throughout the country. Ms. Stegman is credentialed by American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) as a Certified Coding Specialist (CCS) and holds a Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in Health Care Management from the University of New Mexico.
CPT is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association.
