Patient Access Director

Posted on: 2006-10-31

KAREN A. MUZZILLO 121 White Cliffs Lane Frankfort KY 40601 [email protected] [email protected] 502-229-7555 260-341-3514 EXPERIENCE: June 2004 to Present: HCA Frankfort Regional Medical Center, Frankfort KY Patient Access Director · Responsible for all daily operations of the Patient Access Department for a 173-bed facility with 4 remote sites · Oversee Admitting, Registration, QA, Insurance Verification, Pre-Registration, Denials, Compliance, Employee Productivity and Upfront collections · Lead monthly staff meetings; Daily stand-up meetings with CFO, Revenue Integrity, Case Management, Eligibility Vendor, and Financial Counselor; routine meetings with Manager, Team Leads, and Financial Counselor; Member Ethics and Compliance Committee with duties for monthly auditing and reporting, Member Billing Compliance Committee; Quarterly reporting for QA; bi-weekly PAD conference calls; bi-monthly PAD conferences; and serve for any other committees / projects as requested. · New Employee Education and ongoing refresher and Code of Conduct training. · High-dollar in-patient Self-Pay, Pending Medicaid and Medicare LTR days review · Quarterly and Annual incentive evaluations for employees · Cash Attestations and verify cashiering functions · Develop Managers and Leads for succession planning · Acted as translator for all clinical departments of the facility as requested. Accomplishments: · Decreased bad debt from $1M per month to $250,000 per month within first 12 months. · Increased upfront collections from $30,000 per month to $75,000 - $100,00 per month · Implemented Centralized Scheduling · Implemented Insurance Verification and Pre-Registration June 1994 – June, 2004: DeKalb Memorial Hospital, Auburn, IN (June 1994- July 1996): Registrar (July 1996 – July 1999): Office Manager for Physical Rehabilitation (July 1999 – June 2004): Patient Access Manager · Responsible for Patient Access and PBX. · Separately contracted as facility translator for Spanish language needs · Restructured, streamlined, redefined, and generally improved both the image and the professional attitude of both departments with measurable success. · Decreased Patient Wait Time from 45 minutes to under 3 minutes · Increased Cash collections by 75% · Developed and implemented bedside registration · Improved inter-departmental communications and relationships with measurable resultant better service to our patients, physicians, and internal customers. KAREN A. MUZZILLO Page 2 · Researched (in committee), purchased, and installed a new telecommunications system for the facility. · Implemented on-line pre-registration for patients and physician offices · Decreased the need for hard copies of insurance cards · Implemented a recurring registration system for Medicare patients requiring re-registration only one time per year or when appropriate for life changes; yet still complied with the Medicare requirement for new account numbers monthly. · Implemented HIPAA compliance and EMTALA compliance. February 1993 – June 1994: Customer Service Manpower, Inc. Account Representative Duties included screening, testing, and placement of applicants, maintenance of customer client accounts including resolution of complaints, discrepancies, and employee discipline and injury follow-through. July 1989 – February 1993: Renaissance Publishing, Auburn, IN (July 1989 – 1990) Customer Service (1990 – 1993) Account Executive for all accounts in Central Canada, Central United States, and Latin America Represented the company at Trade Shows, Designed and brought to production a Spanish-language calendar and several direct-marketing products, quoted custom orders and followed those through production and delivery May 1987 – July 1989: Willow Haynes Publishing, Miami, FL Editor and General Manager Research, recommend, purchase and oversee installation of an all-new printing process and computerization of the bookkeeping, payroll, and accounting functions; as well as building a database for subscriber lists and mailings. June 1975 – May 1987: Milagro, Ecuador, South America While living in South America on a sugar plantation, participated as an educator for a nursery school, helped to build and begin a new vocational school for youth, and chaired several charity works including the clean-up and renovation of the hospital garden for patient and visitor use. Also worked in conjunction with others to open a Christmas store for employees of the sugar plantation to make available products and toys for worker’s families and children that had not previously been available to them at affordable pricing and through payroll deduction. LIFE EXPERIENCE, SPECIAL ABILITIES, AFFILIATIONS AND CONTINUING EDUCATION: Radio Free International translator 1985, American academy of Educators certified to teach Spanish 2004, NAHAM 2003, CPR certified 1994, Criticism and Discipline Skills November 2002, First Time Managers September 2000, Stephen Covey 7-Habits graduate in Management 2003, Internship with Noble County Training Center during college, Work-Study with DeKalb Home for the Aged 1971-2, NAFTA 1992. Fluent in English and Spanish, capable in Portuguese and Italian. Rotary Club in Milagro, Ecuador. Employees Club President and Chair for Charitable Works in Milagro, Ecuador 1978- 83.