November/December | 2010
Inside This Issue
Bookmark and Share

Go Lean:
Not just a bill...
Payment Posting Lean Implementation Team improves Professional Fee Billing at UMHS

The appointment is over. Or the patient has left the hospital. Now, the billing process begins, as the Health System aims to get paid for the service we have provided.

"It's very important that we as a Health System are able to collect all the money for the work our faculty does," says Senior Director of Revenue Cycle Benjie Johnson. "One big factor is how quickly we post the payments we receive from third-party payers."

Benjie Johnson and Operations Manager Pamela Britz realized that their payment posting results and unit morale could be better.When Johnson and Operations Manager Pamela Britz realized that their payment posting results and unit morale could be better, they volunteered with Britz's Payment Posting group to pilot the Michigan Quality System's "lean in daily work" model.

"Much of our work is manual," Britz explains. "So we needed to standardize our work, find a way to track the issues, monitor our progress, and let our customers know where we were with posting."

Faculty Group Practice (FGP) Professional Fee Billing Payment Posting posts all information received from third-party payers to the billing system. Information is received both via paper and electronically and includes payments for patient services, claim denials, claim status and requests for refunds. 
 
"Once the staff started sharing their issues, submitting ELIs, or everyday lean idea suggestions for improvement, and implementing their improvement suggestions, they became very engaged," Britz says.

As a result of the lean work, there are now three teams within Payment Posting:  Tape Posters (who handle electronic postings from big payers such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, Medicare and Medicaid), Commercial Posters (who post from smaller, non-government payors) and Core Specialists (miscellaneous postings and refunds).

Breaking into concentrated, specialized teams with team leaders has enabled staff to know immediately where postings stand, how to resolve issues, and who to go to for help. Visual boards in each area are updated daily, as needed, so that the freshest information is right at hand.

"Lean has given us the tools to be more organized and thorough in our problem solving," Britz says.  

As a result of their work, commercial postings that once took an average of 12 days now take five days or less, and electronic postings from large organizations only take an average of three days. The group has seen an overall 75 percent improvement rate and implemented 43 lean solutions, with more on the way.

Executive Medical Director of the Faculty Group Practice David Spahlinger, M.D., was the administrative sponsor of this lean team. 

"What impressed me even more than the improvements was the engagement of the staff," he says.

"As a director, you want to engage staff, but you don't always know how," Johnson adds, "Lean makes it easier. I love it!"

To find tools that you can use in your area to implement "lean" concepts and improve the flow of work, visit: http://www.med.umich.edu/i/quality/tools/improve.html

Payment Posting Lean Implementation Team Participants

Commercial Team
Gwyn Borthwick
Melissa Griffith
Deb Johns
Julia McDonald
Ellyce Mason
Carrie Roehm
Kim Ryan

Core Specialists
Laura Conlin
Rhonda Davis
Shirley Medley
Sandra Steinman
Vicktoria Thompson
Jan Weyhe

Tape Team
Kelly Coppernoll
Annette Green
Christina Johnson
Melissa Kain
Brenda Olson
Jamie Phelps
Karolyn Scott
Ann Woods

Pamela Britz, operations manager
Benjie Johnson, senior director, revenue cycle
Tami Samborski, project manager
Kevin DeHority, lean coach
Brendon Weil, lean coach


Comment on this article


You may post my submission in future articles Please share with editor only

Please fill out the following contact information. This information is required to process your request.
Your Name:
 Your Department:
Your E-mail Address:
 Your Work Phone Number:
 
Other Internal Publications:    Daily Bulletin    |    M-News Now!    |    Community Beat