Rachel Lowe

I've been in healthcare for almost 38 years now, and it's been quite a journey. I started at Magnolia Hospital in registration, and when the department split into billing and registration, I was chosen for the billing team. I worked in billing for many years before becoming Medical Billing Supervisor in July 2017, a role I held until June 2020. From there, I moved up to Billing Office Manager, which I did until September 2024. That's when our billing department was outsourced to another company, and I transitioned into my current role as Business Office Liaison. In this position, I audit claims to make sure the outsourced company is billing correctly, I work with our admissions department when admissions are done incorrectly, and I'm responsible for keeping things reconciled so we can get timely filing and correct denials. I monitor denials, oversee refunds, and the billing team can't write off anything without me auditing those accounts first. I work with ATB accountants reports daily, and I can bill every insurance there is - Medicare, Medicaid, Blue Cross, all commercial carriers, and workers' comp. What I really enjoy most about what I do is the auditing aspect. I like looking at accounts and seeing where billing could have done something better for more reimbursement, or just questioning why we did what we did. You're like a detective, basically, trying to pinpoint where things went wrong or could have gone in a different direction. My greatest accomplishments have been earning my Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Management and getting my certified revenue cycle certification through HFMA. This job gave me the knowledge base to be able to get that certification, and I'm proud to be a first-generation college graduate for my family. About five years ago, we hired a revenue cycle director named Victor who really encouraged me to stay focused. He said I had too much knowledge base not to want to pursue something bigger than what I was doing, and I'm glad I listened to him. Looking ahead, with our company being purchased by another hospital, I'd like to become some kind of director over revenue cycle. Right now, I don't have the title as Revenue Cycle Analyst or anything like that, but that's my goal for the next 2 to 3 years.