Interview with Ardith Campbell
CPC
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What is your name?
Ardith Campbell
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Where are you from?
Yakima , WA
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What is your favorite activity?
Reading, which is a good thing in this industry.
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Do you have any hobbies?
Reading, shopping, playing piano.
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What credentials do you hold?
Mom and CPC.
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What organizations do you belong to and how have they helped your career?
My friend, Tammy, and I started our local AAPC chapter. In 4 years, I’ve only missed 2 meetings and one was because I was at National Conference. I usually speak 3 times per year for our local group. My involvement at a local level has given me the public speaking experience I needed for my current position.
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How did you get into the field of medical billing and coding?
I started out on switchboard and back-up receptionist at the local community mental health center. I’d help out the billing personnel when I had time, and when a position opened up, I moved up. The rest has been personal effort to increase my knowledge.
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What is your current position?
Currently, I am a Hospital Account Manager for CodeCorrect™. It has been very interesting to transition from the physician side and focusing on the facility side. Since I am certified, one of my job functions that differs from the other account managers has been with one of the products that takes a retrospective look at facility outpatient Medicare claims and to identify issues for the facility. This is a great company to work for, and they encourage continued education and to grow professionally.
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What is one of your accomplishments in this field that you are most proud of?
Co-founding our local chapter and watching the growth of the members; not just the numbers of our chapter growing, but the personal growth of the members. Some of them have come in as students and I have watched them begin to branch out.
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What do you find most exciting about this field?
The constant change and growth that occurs. There’s always something new to learn, and there is no way to become stagnant.
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What do you find most frustrating?
Besides the coworker who used to whistle at me to come over to her desk to help her with a problem? I’d have to say it is trying to teach somebody who doesn’t want to learn. I feel that this is a problem no matter whether you’re on the provider side or the payer side.
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What do you feel the future holds for this field?
This field holds so many possibilities it would be difficult to list them all. Truly, the sky can be the limit - billing personnel, coding personnel, reimbursement specialists, supervisory roles, compliance officers, nosologists, teachers, mentors, producers of change. It is encouraging to watch how the need for certification is becoming more and more recognized.
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What would you tell someone just starting out in this field?
Become involved with your local AAPC chapter or contact your local community college to see if they have a coding/billing program. It is important to have others as a network to encourage each other and to be a resource.
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If there was one thing you could change about this field what would it be?
Oh, how nice it would be if all payers in all states followed the same rules.
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Who do you consider a mentor?
The CRN list, of course! It would be difficult to find a greater set of mentors anywhere. Whenever I’ve had a question, somebody has been able to help. I’ve learned so much by reading the posts and responses, which has helped broaden my sphere of knowledge and allowed me to apply it to different situations.
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What is your favorite billing or coding product?
(We’re trying to link to products available on the CRN Shoppe http://www.crnshoppe.com)
I haven’t used any yet, but planning on ordering some of the classes and anytime CEUs.
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What is your affiliation with the CRN and how has that helped you?
Let’s see…back in 1999, I joined the CRN. The value I have received from the members has been invaluable. At that time, I had few other coders to network with. The list members have helped me learn about where to go to find things, how to search CMS, Federal Regulations, and how to use them. This has also helped me to become a reference for others in my community. Also, one of the reasons I have my current position is because my supervisor had seen my postings on the CRN list. How cool is that?
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Provide any contact information you are comfortable with:
- You can reach me at (509) 453-0400 extension 224, which is my work phone. I am on the phone sometimes for 90 minutes at a stretch, so please leave a message. My email address is ardithc2000@yahoo.com.