in2itive’s “How To Be a Rockstar” series takes a look at the individual roles that make up an amazing business office and revenue cycle management team. Learn from our own rockstar leaders what makes each role essential, how we measure each role’s success and what tasks and obstacles come with the territory.
Meet Angela Schumacher: Charge Entry Specialist
My title says a lot about my role—I’m responsible for accurately entering charges and billing claims in a timely manner. What it doesn’t suggest is all of the things I have to know going into my job. Being an on-point charge entry specialist means I have to know CPT and ICD10 codes forwards and backwards, and I have to stay up-to-date on applicable insurance benefits and payor guidelines.
This is definitely not simple data entry. Charge entry relies on diligent attention to detail, because as I receive data from numerous sites and systems, it all has to be prioritized, organized, entered and uploaded within a business day.
What makes my role important is its affect on the overall revenue cycle. It’s up to me to get claims out the door as quickly and accurately as possible, because it’s only then that we can expect prompt payment on those claims. For in2itive clients, me doing my job well means they have very few days in A/R, limited claim denials and their revenue cycle manager isn’t faced with an overwhelming workload.
My Territory: The Tasks & Obstacles
My day-to-day involves completing and uploading payment schedules, operative reports and path reports to coding, entering charges, running billing and preparing the pending list of outstanding cases. But these tasks have to be completed in sync with the rest of my team—it’s essential to understand the flow of your office and how everyone’s duties factor in to what you have to accomplish every day.
I think that appreciating everyone’s piece of the puzzle is one of the greatest challenges accompanying any revenue cycle management (RCM) role. It’s easy to get caught up in doing your own thing without realizing that you’re a link in a chain—your success can depend on others doing their job well, just like the success of others can depend on you.
The Ticket to Success in My Role
A role like charge entry specialist demands a keen ability for multi-tasking. As I mentioned before, this role has a lot of data thrown at it from numerous sources; you have to be able to step back, look at the big picture and prioritize what you’re doing. Most people would probably guess this, but you have to be detail-oriented, too, since you’re doing so much with all of the data you receive.
Ultimately, I’d say it’s about focus. Sharp focus means you can manage multiple tasks, be mindful of the details, communicate with your team and follow-through on your role’s daily requirements.
Contact Jocelyn Gaddieto discover how the rockstars at in2itive Business Solutions can help improve your facility’s monthly financial performance.