These are just a few examples of the ways electronic services can help streamline administrative interactions among healthcare professionals, payors, and vendors throughout the entire claim cycle. Many payors and other vendors are exploring additional ways to streamline interactions with your office, including more clinical exchanges. Now that you are thinking about the benefits of implementing an end-to-end electronic solution, what can you do to make it happen? First, review your and your clients’ processes, paying attention to identify those steps in which manual work occurs. Ask your staff about their “pain points.” What takes them the longest time to complete? Where do they feel time is wasted? How much time do they spend waiting on the phone for information they depend on others to supply? When does rework most often occur? Next, train your managers and staff to look for opportunities to use electronic solutions and eliminate manual work. Ask, “What work do you and your clients wish you (or they) could perform if only there was more time?” A compelling exercise to try involves asking yourself and your clients, “What could staff do that we have always wanted to tackle if they did not have to spend time insert manual work process here?” For example, if an office involved two staff members every day to confirm eligibility and benefits for the day’s patients, using an electronic eligibility and benefits solution might free up one of those people, who in turn could run patient out-of-pocket estimates and have time to conduct financial discussions with patients as they check in. Finally, talk to your EDI vendor and payors about what electronic services they offer to replace and improve manual processes. Some electronic tools and solutions may be available at no cost and can include training and ongoing support so that you and your customers can use them to their fullest. As medical billing and management professionals, we often find our time is consumed by tedious, but essential, processes to ensure patient claims and payments are handled appropriately. By implementing electronic services, you open yourself up to a world of benefits – and the possibility to do more for yourself and your clients. ■ As Cigna’s eServices adoption manager, Laurie Robinson is responsible for helping healthcare professionals learn about and use electronic services to best meet their needs. Over the past six years, she has successfully helped increase Cigna’s EDI and EFT transaction adoption rates, focusing on assisting healthcare professionals reduce their administrative costs and increase productivity. Laurie’s 24 years with Cigna also includes experience in training, education, and telecommunications. 24 HBMA BILLING • JULY.AUGUST.2014 In 2010, the HBMA Board of Directors charged the Certification Committee with the task of improving the Certified Healthcare Billing & Management Executive (CHBME) program. The goal was to develop a path to successfully achieve a high level of professionalism in the key elements of industry knowledge, compliance, and business competency. This was achieved by creating three distinct categories of education and information as listed below: Category 1: National Conferences Category 2: Business Competency and Compliance Category 3: Other Education Programs The Certification Committee is currently undertaking an initiative to further evaluate the CHBME credential and the HBMA certification program in its entirety. Our goal is for the CHBME designation to be a sign of excellence within the medical billing community and to designate those who have it as experts in the industry. The committee is working with HBMA staff to gather feedback from CHBME certificants and HBMA members on the current program as well as examine and implement industry standards and best practices. More information on the results of this initiative will be shared throughout this year. The certification program was designed to encourage excellence within the HBMA membership through education and awareness of our industry.
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