SARA LAUER

• Process Improvement examples: Analyzed all facility billing automation to optimize billing accuracy and reduce FTE's. Redesigned all billing and insurance follow up work queues to streamline workflow and achieve weekly productivity resulting in a 20% A/R reduction in 6 months.
• Spearheaded collaboration between multiple departments to evaluate payor behaviors (hard and soft denials, outstanding A/R) and developed agendas to negotiate desired outcomes.
• Lead and mentored a team consisting of 5 Supervisors, 10 Coordinators, 1 Assistant, with 103 front line coworkers. Focusing on diversity, inclusion, and open communication within the team created an inviting and positive environment which lead to increased coworker satisfaction and productivity improvements of 15%.
• All HR responsibilities.
• Created weekly “Blitz” activities to bring focus and efficiency to the A/R which caused a reduction of 10,000+ accounts within 5 months from all active work queues.
• Accomplished multiple tasks within established timeframes.
• Reviewed aging and delegated work plans to reduce days in A/R to meet corporate financial goals, resulting in an overall decrease of 6.9 days in the last 6 months.
• Maximized performance by monitoring daily activities, reports and statistics and mentoring Supervisors.
• Oversaw the cross-training of existing coworkers to maximize team agility and performance.
• Controlled costs to keep business operating within budget and increase profits.
• Developed and maintained Vendor relationships, meeting monthly to monitor their progress, communicate goals, and direct their focus.

• Manager, Government Collections 10/2015 – 09/2016
• Supervisor, Medicaid 05/2014 - 10/2015
• • Billing and Collection services for 24 hospital facilities located in 5 states; IN, IL, KY, SC, NC.
• • Responsible for maintaining working knowledge of J8 and J9 CMS, Medicare Replacement plans, Traditional Medicaid, and HMO
• Medicaid payer guidelines and reimbursement policies.
• • Lead and mentored a team of 3 Supervisors, 3 Team Leads and 47 front line staff.
• • Payer issue tracking, follow up and resolution.
• • Staff productivity monitoring.
• • A/R Aging management to meet corporate and facility financial goals.
• • Review and approve all account adjustments and financial class changes staff complete daily for accuracy.
• • Complete month end account review, reports and closing processes.
• • Responsible for Taleo (tracking, staff interviewing/hiring), staff evaluations & annual reviews, attendance, PTO, Kronos, quality audits,
• disciplinary actions, PIP, goal setting and team building.
• • Monthly staff meeting planning and organization for all Government teams.
• • Training sessions for new collectors to review and learn best practices for account collections, different software usage (SSI, BARRT, HMS,
• etc.) as well as UB-04, CMS1500 and IL2360 form explanations.
• • Reviewing problem accounts with underpayment, overpayments, appeals and denial situations.
• • Voted Employee of the Month February 2015 by three co-workers (office size 420 staff)

Manager of Client Accounts, 01/2011 - 01/2013

• Integration and Practice Management Specialist 01/2007 - 01/2011
• Consultant 10/2006 - 01/2007
• Managed and maintained up to 18 client accounts with consultative services for revenue cycle management, denial management, analytics, and custom rule requests
• Client sizes range from 20 providers up to 850 providers, often in CBO settings
• Denial Management; review of error trends via up front and back end denials and advise clients how to improve their workflow or correct issue in PM system for improved and timely revenue
• Worked with Payers and Clearinghouses for EDI enrollment, credentialing issues and claim follow up
• Report generation and client review of metrics such as: Error Trending Top 10 by Error Rate; Error Trending Top 10 by Dollars; Error Trending by Location or Physician; Payers by Paper Claims versus Electronic; ERA/EOB Payers by Paper versus Electronic compared to Claims Sent; Days from Service to Submission; A/R Impacts by Payer; Top Service Codes and Payment by Payer; etc
• Relationship building; showing value of services, honest and open communication, support services for A/R staff, process improvement, trust building, personal connections
• Becoming their "Go-To Person" for questions, problems and advice
• Reviewed office workflow/revenue cycle and offering process improvement solutions
• Creative and interactive training plans created and executed for both onsite and remote training for clients’ end users; both new user training, and refresher training class for up to 30 participants
• Onboarding of new clients in as little as 20 days on an 85-day timeline; multiple client onboarding simultaneously while continuing to support existing clients.

• Prepared and executed lesson plans; as well as graded homework, exams and provided constructive feedback to students
• Be aware of and practice different learning/teaching methods based on student educational responses
• Classes taught included: CPT basic and advanced, ICD-9, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Claims processing at payer level, Health Insurance (CMS1500 and UB-04), Medical Billing practices, HIPAA.

Also employed as Instructor at local business college as well as providing consultative services with RealMed during 2006 and 2007, with
knowledge and consent of ONE CE
• Supervised and trained staff members; performed audits of staff performance; wrote evaluations; accurately measured performance
accountability and coached staff to meet their potential.
• Followed and analyzed A/R trends, and formulated plan of action and delegated to staff.
• 70ish Providers (physicians and mid-levels).
• Instituted electronic remit posting for multiple payers, completed all PM system setup and training of payment posting staff.
• Patient account management, EDI responsibilities and Master File set up for Millbrook/Centricity Practice Solutions.
• Responsible for implementation of new clearinghouse, changed from McKesson to Availity working in tandem with consultants,
software vendors and payers.
• Resolved problem accounts by working with patient and payers; wrote appeals and sent appropriate supporting documentation for
denied, underpaid or bundled charges.
• Recognized for dropping A/R by 14.68 days within 90-day timeframe; as well as enforcing payment/adjustment deadlines with payers.
• Encouraged one payer president to hand deliver large payment to meet mandated payment deadlines.
• Created and distributed monthly newsletter to all financial staff.
• Involved in several committees:
o Evaluate and nominate EMR
o Denial Management
o Staff Moral (executed 500+ staff picnic and Zoo )