Tonja Wise, CHC, CHPC, serves as Director of Revenue Management Compliance for Kaiser Permanente.
On October 15th, Tonja will serve on the panel "Price Transparency - Keeping Your Hospital or System Accountable" at Becker's Annual Health IT + Revenue Cycle Conference. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place October 13-16, 2020 at Navy Pier, Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Tonja's session, click here.
Question: What technology has taken on greater significance or value during the pandemic?
Tonja Wise: Virtual care and telephone visit technologies have become significant during the pandemic. Many patients do not have access to video calling, so the ability to pick up the phone and maintain contact with their health care provider is critical during this time. Previously, Medicare and some Medicaid plans did not accept 99441-99443 as covered benefits, which limited the ability to utilize this technology with patients that may be unable to come into the office. Now that the patient’s home is being accepted as an originating site during the Public Health Emergency (PHE) and telephone visits are being covered, this allows more flexibility to the patient.
Q: How has the coronavirus pandemic forced a paradigm shift in your line of work, from your perspective?
TW: As a compliance professional, I am accustomed to focusing on planned audits and reviews, areas of focus on the OIG work plan, CMS proposals, and anticipated ad hoc issues that arise. While there are elements of surprise to my day, I generally can expect my scheduled meetings to cover material that is familiar to my team. As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, my life has become less about dealing with the scheduled work, and more about keeping up with and interpreting the new waivers, acts and regulations that are being released. I have to stay on top of these changes, interpret the organizational impact on reimbursement and billing, and make sure these changes are communicated to the appropriate stakeholders. It has been a definite shift from the norm, as our focus has to be on what is happening right now, versus retrospective or future state planning.
Q: What is the most underrated trait of the best leaders?
TW: Empathy is one of the most underrated traits of the best leaders. There are may good leaders out there, but the great leaders are the ones who can listen, appreciate what their staff is dealing with, and can provide understanding and compassion, while still maintaining leadership and direction over the team. I believe in leading my team the way that I want to be led, providing guidance and oversight, while never losing sight of work/life balance and empathy. I have some of the best employees on my team, and I would like to think that great leadership from our organization plays a role in inspiring great work.
Q: What fundamentals would you encourage your peers to revisit and refine when it comes to health IT and revenue cycle management?
TW: Understanding the basic rules and fundamentals of telehealth and virtual care billing is one that I would advise others to revisit and familiarize themselves with. Understand the differences between telehealth, virtual care, e-visits, etc., as well as how these modalities are typically covered by CMS. Starting with these fundamentals allows one to understand what documentation, technology and billing systems would be required to really integrate telehealth and build out a successful program. Telehealth and virtual care are not going away, especially now that it has become so prevalent during the PHE, so understanding how telehealth works and is reimbursed can help determine how one might incorporate telehealth into their care model.