Tammy Phillips

Experience

• 

  Claxton Poultry Company

  Sept 1986 - Apr 1992

  Data Processing Clerk

  Responsible for all data transactions ran on the computer includingrunning programs, printing reports, and back up of records.Responsible for purchasing supplies. Backup for Parts Inventory Clerk.

• 

  Candler County Hospital

  Apr 1992 - Aug 1999

  Head Coder

  Responsible for coding outpatient, and inpatient records, assembly and analysis of medical records, and release of information.

• 

  Georgia Emergency Associates

  Aug 1999 - Jan 2001

  Head Coder

  Responsible for coding all emergency room records for St. Joseph's Hospital, Candler Hospital, and Meadows Regional Hospital. Codingturnaround time was 1.5 days.

• 

  Candler County Hospital

  Jan 2001 - Oct 2008

  Medical Records Director / Medical Staff Coordinator

  Direct operations and leadership staff of health information management Department. Coordinates health information systems and processes to assure cost effective and quality conscious operations including fiscal year budget. Collaborates with other health care professionals to ensure appropriate measures are in place to maintain and safeguard the privacy,confidentiality, and security of patient health information. Manage a staffof 5 employees in areas including: Abstracting, Coding, Release of Information, Assembly & Analysis, Transcription, Tumor Registry and filing. Coordinate all Medical Staff functions including quarterly meetings, minutes and statistical reports. Credential all physicians,and allied health practitioners for privileges including reappointments.Coordinate Peer Review / Mortality Review meetings including abstracting charts for review and minutes.Abstract Pneumonia, Congestive Heart Failure, and Acute Myocardial Infarction charts for State Reporting.Overturned 98% of denied outpatient claims by writing defense appeal letters to protect hospital revenue. Joint Commission review for 2005 and unannounced 2006 had no deficiencies in Information Management or Medical Staff. Two State audits 2004, 2005 had no deficiencies for Information Management or Medical Staff.Assist coder with abstracting and coding.Statistical performance improvement reporting.Major accomplishments: Drastically reduced delinquent record count from 58% to 17% to comply with JCAHO standards in one quarter. Reduced coding turnaround time from 18 days to 1.5 days in six months time frame. Show less

• 

  East Georgia Regional Medical Center

  Oct 2008 - Nov 2011

  Health Information Management Director / HIPAA Privacy Officer / CDI Specialist

  April 2010 – November 2011(HIM Director/HIPAA Privacy Officer) /Directs and plans HIM functions in the health care system. Monitors the transcription services and maintenance of unacceptable quality of transcription. Conducts regular audits and coordinates ongoing monitoring of coding accuracy and documentation adequacy. Serves as the HIPAA Privacy Officer, receives and investigates reports of non-compliance and makes recommendations in the disciplinary action for violations. Monitors analyst for quality and productivity and runs regular audits. Prepares monthly statistical reports through Crystal/Ad hoc reporting. Responsible for all RAC audits and appeals process. Management of a staff abstracting, coding, release of information, assembly and analysis, filing, and CDI specialist.October 2008 – April 2010 (CDI Specialist) / Completes initial reviews of patient records within 24–48 hours of admission for a specified patient population to: Evaluate documentation to assign the principal diagnosis, pertinent secondary diagnoses, and procedures for accurate DRG assignment, risk of mortality, and severity of illness; and initiate a review worksheet. Conducts follow-up reviews of patients every 2–3 days to support and assign a working or final DRG assignment upon patient discharge, as necessary. Queries physicians regarding missing, unclear, or conflicting health record documentation by requesting and obtaining additional documentation within the health record when needed.Educates physicians and key healthcare providers regarding clinical documentation improvement and the need for accurate and complete documentation in the health record. Collaborates with case managers, nursing staff, and other ancillary staff regarding interaction with physicians on documentation and to resolve physician queries prior to patient discharge.. Show less

• 

  Precyse Solutions

  Nov 2011 - Aug 2012

  Sr. Medical Coding Data Analysis

  Responsible for working with the Product Manager to construct detailed CPT, HCPCS, ICD-9, Procedure, and E/M service codes and communicate with the NLP (natural language processing) linguists and developers on how to construct all data to support coding workflow for various settings including the professional medical setting. Constructing rules to accommodate concurrent, post-discharge, and retrospective professional fee coding will also be a primary responsibility. Also, responsible for writing rules that asks the appropriate questions to derive CPT-4, HCPCS, and ICD-9 codes as well as defining various ways codes can be described when documented by a clinician. Show less

• 

  St. Vincent's HealthCare

  Aug 2012 - Dec 2012

  Coding Manager

  Manages the coding operations in order to ensure quality and/or quantity goals are met. Identifies, coordinates, and implements projects and/or programs to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of coding operations. Ensures projects are completed on schedule following established procedures and schedules. Estimates personnel needs and assigns work to meet completion dates. Reviews department performance. Ensures compliance with department and organization policies and procedures. Manages, coordinates and provides leadership to the coding supervisor and staff. Provides training, coaching, and professional development. Interviews and recommends candidates for employment or termination. Conducts performance evaluations for assigned staff. Assists the HIM Director with the development of short and long range department goals and objectives. Accountable for non-payroll budget expenses. Participates in the budget planning and preparation process of assigned work units to meet fiscal goals. Serves as a liaison between management, other departments, subordinates and/or members. Resolves problems and complaints from other departments, other managers. Conducts analyses and produces reports for management. Show less

• 

  HCA/Parallon

  Oct 2015 - May 2019

  Coding Quality Review Manager

  Provides direct managerial oversight to Coding Quality Reviewers in the management of coding data quality and education work processes, to include quality pre and post billing coding reviews, Selects, evaluates, trains, and provides leadership and direction to reporting staff.Coaches and helps develop team members; helps resolve dysfunctional behavior and promotes teamwork within functional area(s); disciplines and counsels staff as necessary.Responsible for ensuring employee work schedules sufficiently meet the coding quality monitoring requirements including reviews for new hires.Coordinates work assignments to achieve operational goals.Maintains up-to-date knowledge of regulatory changes impacting coding requirements and ensures coding quality staff are appropriately educated. Coordinates training and education for Coding Quality Reviewers and coding pool. Show less

• 

  Community Health Systems

  May 2019 - now

  Manager of Coding Services

  Provides oversight of the coding staff in management of all coding functions, coding-related queues and processes * Ensures accurate and timely coding while adhering to industry accepted coding standards * Responsible for the hiring, training, performance evaluation, disciplinary action of Health Management associates * Manages associates' work schedules to meet revenue cycle expectations * Works closely with CBO, facility leadership and other associates involved in the revenue cycle process * Monitors coder productivity and accuracy and provides timely and consistent feedback to associates and Regional HIM Manager * Reports identified opportunities or trends to the Regional HIM Manager * Keeps current with coding regulatory changes and provides necessary education * Assists facility HIM Director in payroll reconciliation * Acts as facility liaison for unresolved Alert Report issues * Maintains all MARSI/PPS related documentation and monitors facility/coder recommendation rates * Ensures minimum coding education requirements are met * Assures coders maintain licensure/accreditation * Assists with creation and maintenance of job descriptions, policies and procedures and role-based competencies * Manages leads and is accountable for HIM coding projects (e.g., I-10 preparation and implementation, clinical documentation improvement, internal education development, physician education programs). * Provides subject matter expertise on HIM coding topics (e.g., tools and resources, education, Coding Clinic interpretation and application, data collection and reporting). Show less