The role of the National Advisory Board (NAB) is to advise the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) leadership on coding issues and questions, and enthusiastically promote and support the mission of AAPC and the coding profession. The NAB works with the national office for the betterment of the entire membership and the medical coding community through active participation in nationally sponsored conferences, events, publications, educational programs and activities.
A position on the NAB is a voluntary appointment for a period of two years commencing on April 18, 2007 and ending at the end of the 2009 National Conference. The NAB includes 16 members appointed by the AAPC representing eight geographical regions, one member appointed by the American Medical Association representing the AMA, and four officers elected by the NAB including president, president-elect, member relations, and secretary. The CEO and a liaison represent AAPC.
President:
Deborah Grider, CPC-EMS, CPC-H®, CPC-P®, CCS-P®
Medical Professionals, Inc
Deborah has been in health care for 30 years and speaks nationally across the country in relation to compliance, coding, and reimbursement. Deborah is a member of the Peer Review Editorial Board for Contexo Media.
Deborah is the author of many coding publications for the AMA. She is the author of Principles of ICD-9-CM Coding in its third edition, Coding with Modifiers in its second edition, and Medical Record Chart Auditor in its second edition. She is also writing the ICD-10-CM Implementation Guide, which will be released in 2009. In addition to authoring books for the AMA, she is the author of the Certified Professional Coder-Hospital® Study Guide, Independent Study Module 7 and the Professional Medical Coding Curriculum-Hospital® for the AAPC.
President-Elect:
Terry Leone, CPC®, CPC-P®, CIC
Catamount Associations LLC
Terry is a specialist in radiology coding, interventional coding and consulting. His career spans over 30 years with experience in various aspects of management, billing, and coding. Since 1996, Terry has been the principal owner and president of Catamount Associates, LLC — a physician billing company. He is the founder and past president of the Western New York Chapter at Buffalo. He is a certified instructor at Bryant & Stratton College, Rochester, New York teaching the Professional Medical Coding Curriculum (PMCC).
Secretary:
Linda Martien, CPC®, CPC-H®
National Healing Corporation
Linda Martien is a Coding, Documentation and Compliance Specialist with National Healing Corporation, a management company devoted to advanced wound healing operations and oversight. She is a 30+ year veteran of the health care arena, with clinical, administrative and managerial experience. Her medical practice management experience includes internal medicine, surgery, dermatology, pediatrics, gastroenterology, family practice, and trauma specialties. Her clinical experience as a paramedic and OR technician gives her additional insight to coding complexities. She is a nationally recognized educator and speaker and Secretary of the National Advisory Board of the American Academy of Professional Coders for the 2007 – 2009 term.
Member Relations Officer:
Linda K Eickmann, CPC®
University of Kansas Hospital Authority
Linda has 21 years of experience in health care. She currently holds the position of senior auditor in the consulting firm Coding & Compliance Initiatives, Inc., located in Olathe, Kansas. Her primary focus is physician documentation and coding audits. Linda also enjoys providing education sessions for coding and documentation and is a speaker for the AAPC’s workshops and conferences. In the local chapters she has held the positions of president and education officer.
Linda has had the privilege of interacting with many specialties over the years including emergency medicine, primary care, cardiothoracic surgery and oncology. Her experience also includes previously working as a compliance auditor in a university setting. She obtained her certification in 1999 and has been an AAPC advisory board member for two years. She currently services as Member Relations Officer.
Director of Business Development:
Rhonda Buckholtz, CPC®, CPC-I®
Coding and Reimbursement Experts, Pennsylvania
Rhonda is the Director of Business Development and member relations for the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC). A seasoned coder and coding educator, she previously served the AAPC as director of local chapter relations and as a member of the organization’s National Advisory Board. She is a certified coder and PMCC coding instructor, and speaks frequently at coding conferences. She is the owner of Coding and Reimbursement Experts, Pennsylvania coding consulting service and teaches coding at the Venango campus of Clarion University. Prior to her employment with the AAPC, Ms. Buckholtz was administrator for Wolf Creek Medical Associates, managing a five location multi-specialty practice and was business manager at an otolaryngology practice.
Reed Pew
CEO of AAPC
Reed is CEO and president of the American Academy of Professional Coders. He is excited about the changes in the AAPC and the NAB, and looks forward to getting to know the members.
Region 1 - Northeast
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York
Sarah Todt, RN, CPC-EDS
Medical Reimbursement Systems, Inc
Sarah has been involved in health care for nearly 20 years as a registered nurse for the past 11 years in coding. Her career has focused on critical care and emergency medicine with a strong focus on education. As the quality assurance manager for Medical Reimbursement Systems, Inc., she is responsible for overseeing and directing the quality assurance and educational programs for over 50 coders processing over 1,000,000 annual ED visits. Additionally, she performs external audits of medical records for coding accuracy and compliance with regard to physician documentation for emergency medicine groups.
Gail V. Donlin, CPC®
Fletcher Allen Health Care
Gail has over 35 years of health care experience. She specializes in radiology professional ICD-9-CM and CPT® coding and auditing. In addition, she has a multi-specialty background and has done consulting work for a pathologist. Gail is one of the original members of her local AAPC chapter and has been an AAPC presenter.
Region 2 - Atlantic
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC
Michael D Miscoe, BS, CPC®, CHCC, CRA
Practice Masters, Inc
Michael is a 1985 graduate of the United States Military Academy, a Certified Professional Coder®, a Certified Healthcare Compliance Consultant and the president of Practice Masters, Inc. He has over 17 years billing experience and 11 years of consulting experience with a wide variety of health care provider specialties. He provides consulting and educational services to a variety of outpatient provider specialists on health care compliance issues to include proper documentation of medical necessity and proper billing and coding techniques with special emphasis and expertise on evaluation and management, physical medicine, chiropractic and electrodiagnostic test services. Michael is primarily involved with providing expert analysis related to civil and criminal false claims and postpayment recovery cases.
Yvonne D Dailey, CPC®
Dailey Billing Services, Inc
Yvonne Dailey founded Dailey Billing Services, Inc in 2001 to provide electronic medical billing services. As technology was introduced to the medical field, consulting and front office training were added to the service list.
Yvonne has more than six years in information technology and more than five years in medical billing and administration. Her combined experiences inspired her to start her own billing and consulting agency as she saw the need for Internet technology in physician office settings. A Certified Professional Coder® (CPC®) credential has enabled her to continue teaching her clients the key role "correct coding & documentation" has on their reimbursement.
She also has some experience as an adjunct instructor for some business schools in her area to teach coding and billing.
Region 3 - Mid-Atlantic
Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina
Julia Croly, CPC®
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina
Julia Croly is a director in actuarial and underwriting, with a health care career that spans 30 years. Julia has a BS in biochemistry and a master’s of public administration with a specialty in health care administration. For the past 20 years, Julia has worked in the health insurance arena. Currently, she focuses on provider contract support and group utilization reporting at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. She has also taught ICD-9-CM and CPT® coding at a local college.
Lori J. Strauss, RN, CPC®, CPC-H®
University of Virginia Health System
Lori is the manager for Corporate Compliance at the University of Virginia. She is an RN, has a master’s in health care administration, and has been in health care roles for 26 years. Lori is certified through the AAPC in physician and hospital coding and is certified in health care compliance through the HCCB. Her current responsibilities include conducting hospital billing and documentation reviews, and developing and presenting education programs. Previously, Lori managed an ED, a CCU, an education department, an ophthalmology division, established an urgent care facility, and was a critical care educator. Other accomplishments include accreditation surveys, legal reviews, and publishing.
Region 4 - Southeast
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee
Dr David Zielske, MD, CPC-H®, CCS, RCC
Z Health, Z Health Publishing
David retired from active interventional radiology practice in May of 2003. He practiced privately for 14 years in a community setting at several 200 bed hospitals in the Nashville, Tenn. area. His fellowship and residency were at Emory in Atlanta, Ga. His certificate of added qualifications, in interventional radiology, was obtained in 1995 with recertification in 2005. He started Z Health (a physician-based coding and auditing firm) in 2000 and Z Health Publishing in 2003 (an educational company focused on training in interventional radiology, cardiology and vascular surgery coding. This company publishes several coding references focused in these specialty areas, performs education through formalized one to four day seminars, web based education and referencing, newsletters and web/audio-teleconferencing.)
Patricia A Champion, CPC®
Vanderbilt Medical Group Coding & Charge Entry
Patricia has enjoyed being in the health care industry for about 20 years. She managed several different specialties and worked as a manager with HCA until she went into the coding division. She was in health care consulting for about six years and traveled quite extensively. Now Patricia enjoys the opportunity to serve at Vanderbilt Medical Group where she educates, trains, and watches coders develop and go out to do a great work for their physicians.
Patricia loves her local chapter, professional coders of Nashville, TN, where she has served in several offices and currently is the educational director which she has held for five years. She loves bringing workshops to Nashville as well as having her own. She provides the opportunity for coders to receive education to further their knowledge in their specialty or other areas they might be interested in. Patricia is actively involved in her chapter.
Region 5 - Southwest
Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi
Paula Threet, CPC®, CCP
Paula has over 24 years of coding experience and has been a certified professional coder since 1995. She currently is the Director of Coding for National Healing Corporation. She has experience with physician billing in a university setting, practice management and consulting.
Suzanne Quinton, CPC®, CCS-P
Quinton Coding Consultants, Inc.
Suzanne resides in Broken Arrow, Okla. and has been working in the medical field for over 25 years. In 1994 she became certified with the AAPC. In 1997, she obtained her certification with the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). As founder of the Pro Tulsa chapter in 1996, she has served in the various officer positions.
In 2002, Suzanne formed Quinton Coding Consultants, Inc. specializing in orthopaedic, neurosurgery, and cardiovascular/thoracic coding and billing. In addition, education and training has always been foremost on her agenda and she has taught many coding classes and given various presentations to the local chapter as well as the local medical group managers association.
In April 2007 she was honored by the AAPC as the "2006 Networker of the Year".
Region 6 - Great Lakes
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio
Cynthia Stahl, CPC®, CPC-H®, CCS-P
MedTech College in Indianapolis
Cyndi is a past president of the Central Indiana chapter (Indianapolis) and has 18 years of experience in the medical profession, developing a broad base of experience in the practice setting while holding, among others, the positions of consultant, practice manager and senior coding specialist. Currently, she is the lead instructor of Medical Billing Curriculum at MedTech College in Indianapolis. Additionally, she provides medical coding and billing instruction as a writer and research assistant with Elsevier publishing.
Judith Ackerman, CPC®, CCS-P
Fairmont Medical Center- Mayo Health System
Judy has been employed for the past 15 years in the coding department of the Fairmont Medical Center-Mayo Health System. FMC offers 44 providers and 16 different specialties. She enjoys the challenge of working with providers to ensure accurate coding and billing. She is also a member of the Advisory Board for the Mayo Health System’s Quarterly Coding Conference. Judy currently is the president of the Southern Minnesota Owatonna AAPC Chapter.
Region 7 - Mountain/Plains
Idaho, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska ,Iowa
Linda R Farrington, CPC®, CPC-I
Medisense
Linda has 30 years of experience in health care and practice management specializing in cardiovascular and thoracic surgery. As a coding consultant, she has assisted many individuals and practices of various specialties in development of coding proficiency and integrity programs. She has also freelanced as a writer and instructor with a special interest in encouraging and empowering new coders as they enter this exciting profession filled with opportunity. Linda served as President of the AAPC Phoenix local chapter, Grand Canyon Coders, in 2005, is an audio conference speaker and workshop presenter for the AAPC, and serves on the AAPC National Advisory Board. She is currently employed by Ingenix and teaches coding certification classes in Colorado Springs under the name Medisense – “Making Sense of Medical Coding”.
Susan Ward, CPC®, CPC-H®
Travis C. Holcombe, MD
Susan, approved PMCC instructor, has been in coding and billing for over 18 years. She currently works for a reconstructive plastic surgeon in Phoenix. Susan has experience in many aspects of coding and billing but finds her heart is with integumentary, evaluation/management, and working with family practices. In addition to being an Approved PMCC Instructor, Susan is also an AAPC Workshop Presenter. Besides her full-time job, Susan also has a consulting contract for a local hospital with a busy family practice. She is also the past president of her chapter in Phoenix.
Region 8 - West
California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Hawaii, Alaska
Jonnie Massey, CPC®, CPC-P®
Regence
Jonnie is currently an external audit investigator II with Regence headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Regence oversees the operation of Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in four western states. She joined the external audit and investigation department, also known as Special Investigations Unit (SIU) in May of 1998, but has been in health care since 1985.
Jonnie is a Certified Professional Coder® (CPC®) and Certified Professional Coder-Payer® (CPC-P®). Jonnie was the 2006 president of the Portland based Columbia River Coders and is the 2007 education officer. As part of her duties, she chairs the 2007 Columbia River Coders Advisory Board. Among her other responsibilities, she conducts fraud awareness training for both internal and external entities inclusive of employees, brokers, agents, and provider and subscriber groups. She has also presented at numerous national conferences on the subjects of auditing and health care fraud prevention and detection. Numerous articles related to health care fraud have been authored and published by Jonnie both locally and nationally. She represents Regence on several projects internally, as well as working at a national level with member organizations on numerous projects and workgroups. Jonnie is also the training coordinator for the Oregon Plan.
Arlene J Smith, CPC®, CCS-P
Washington State Medical Association
Arlene is an independent consultant. Previous to that she worked as a Health Insurance Coding Specialist for the Washington State Medical Association (WSMA) researching coding questions and issues for member physicians and their staff. Arlene has over 20 years of experience in the health care industry, having held positions in practice management and billing operations in various medical practices.