President's Letter

Welcome! I am excited to be serving as the Hawkeye Chapter President.

AAHAM is your organization! The only professional organization solely focused on healthcare revenue cycle. A members and corporate sponsors organization. I am here to help lead and guide continued education for healthcare revenue cycle professionals all across Iowa. As AAHAM nationally leads the way as a leading Healthcare Revenue Cycle education organization, I would like to ensure our Chapter works to meet goals in the following areas:

Goal #1: GROWTH
Healthcare Administration, Revenue Cycle, Accounts Receivable, front desk, back office- whatever you call it, in whatever healthcare specialty, if you are seeing patients and billing – it is what AAHAM focuses on. We can grow our membership, within hospitals and physicians, but also with different specialties, such as behavioral health, pain management, oral surgeons, chiropractic, home health, and other entities that deal with patients and AR. The scope and coding issues maybe a little different, however, great management of accounts receivable is the way we ensure that our providers and facilities can continue to serve our patients, communities, and each other. All these different healthcare specialties, if they are billing, deal with the same issues – registration/intake, patient access, and billing/denials management, compliance, and AR.

Membership growth is important so we can provide excellent speakers and education sessions. Education sessions from point of service collections, reducing denials, improving AR, reducing rework, and so much more. Bring this education back to your facilities and provider offices and you make a huge impact and improvements in your revenue cycle. AAHAM is the perfect place for you and your team members to learn, grow, and make a difference for your offices and patients.

Growth #2 CERTIFICATION
Increase the number of certifications in our Chapter. Certification’s range from CRCS to CRCE, as well as CRIP and CCT. Continue learning with education and certificates from AAHAM and improve your revenue cycle. Currently, I am certified as CRCP and CRCE.  My experience has been that education from AAHAM, as well as certification, keeps me sharp and on top of revenue cycle best practices and compliance issues, both at the state and national levels. In previous positions, my entire revenue cycle team was expected to be certified, be national members, and keep up their CEU’s. We saw great improvement in AR, and part of that was due to their certification and continued education. In my current position, we are adding members to Hawkeye AAHAM and obtaining certification. I like to walk the talk.

Growth #3 NETWORKING
Networking is the best way to meet people in healthcare administration and revenue cycle. I have always enjoyed meeting others, discussing challenges, and learning how other providers and facilities handle those challenges; I have also had the opportunity to mentor and share with others. When you are passionate about healthcare revenue cycle, you realize there are others out there you can connect with, and you build friendships.

Growth #4 Corporate and Member Involvement
Our corporate sponsors attend and support our chapter financially. This is the perfect setting to meet and talk with them and not feel pressured. I can honestly say the corporate sponsors want to get to know you and build a rapport with you. I have had opportunity to use our corporate sponsors in my facility and refer other colleagues, as well.

Finally, this is your organization. Please- volunteer and get involved with Hawkeye AAHAM. Hawkeye Chapter of AAHAM exists because of like-minded professionals in the Healthcare Revenue Cycle field that have volunteered their time to this chapter. Please, become involved. Volunteer for a committee – assist with the conference planning; write an article for our Hawkeye Highlights regarding Revenue Cycle, that is just a few ways you can become involved. If you are interested in becoming a board member, let me know that, as well! We need you to continue to be successful and offer great education to our members.

Please, let me know how I can best assist and what you, our members, want to see from our Hawkeye AAHAM Chapter. Wishing you the very best and looking forward to hearing from you!

Carrie Kuennen

Past President, Hawkeye Chapter AAHAM