Tara Osborne

I began my healthcare administration career in October 2002 at UAB Internal Medicine Residency Program, where I started as a patient registration receptionist after leaving my position as a district manager in the restaurant industry. I made that leap of faith because I had three young girls and was going through a strained marriage, and I needed a Monday-through-Friday job that would allow me to be present for my children in the evenings. I didn't want them to be latchkey kids like I once was. I walked into a temp agency with no plan other than black slacks, a crisp white shirt, and a cardigan, determined to find work because my children depended on me. The CEO of the agency knew me and placed me at UAB, which was a godsend because it was right down the street from my home and my daughters' school. Within six months, they brought me on as a full employee, and I served there for over 13 years, even earning teachers' retirement benefits since it was part of the School of Medicine under the State of Alabama. A manager in the business office saw how detailed and attentive I was with patients and customers, drawing on my restaurant experience, and suggested I'd be great in billing. I took classes and became a certified coder through AAPC, passing the rigorous 5-hour exam on my first attempt with scores well over the passing mark. I waited with uncertainty about whether I'd get a job in billing, but I kept acquiring skills and performing my duties, and eventually moved into the billing office with my credentials. I wanted to gain more depth in my profession and not become complacent, so I transitioned to a local hospital's billing office to expand my knowledge across more specialties, work with more physicians and staff, and really open my eyes to the full revenue cycle - from scheduling appointments and credentialing providers to ensuring claims are pushed out and come back adjudicated appropriately. That experience catapulted me to my current position as Revenue Cycle Manager, which I've held for nearly 6 years since June 2020. I continued working through COVID, maybe stopping for just 2 weeks. My main area of expertise is medical billing and coding together, and my day-to-day responsibilities include oversight of revenues, claims, payments, adjudications, adjustments, zero pays, managing and appealing denials, recoding and rebuilding claims, and ensuring charges are posted and entered properly. I've been at tables and in rooms with people who have MBAs, but my knowledge, skills, and ability to observe, gather data, retain information, and put it to use have earned me that seat. I later completed my bachelor's degree, which was something I'd tried three times to do, but support really matters and it just wasn't the right time until then. I had my children early and made sure they went on to higher learning and acquired their degrees first. Throughout my career, I've served in leadership roles with AAPC since 2013-14, holding positions as President, VP, Secretary, and Treasurer, and I've been recognized as an outstanding chapter officer. I've also received Employee of the Year and Employee of the Month awards from UAB Internal Medicine Residency Program. I value my certification highly because that test was truly rigorous, and I wouldn't give it back for anything.