Professional Vitae:

Susan Garrison, CHCA, CHCAS, CHC, CPC, CCS-P, CPAR, COC

Susan serves as President of Med Law Advisors. She is also Executive Director with the Association of Health Care Auditors and Educators (AHCAE), an international professional membership organization.

As a consultant to hundreds of healthcare providers, legal teams, accountants and related organizations, Susan assists clients in all facets of documentation, coding, billing, compliance, and litigation needs.

Susan is a nationally acclaimed and highly sought speaker, having presented hundreds of educational sessions for professional organizations (AAPC, HFMA, AHIMA, MGMA), teaching university health systems, healthcare providers of all sizes, and payors.  Susan’s audiences include physicians, non-physician providers, residents, CEOs, CFOs, coding professionals, and attorneys from small groups to in excess of 3,000.

Susan’s areas of expertise include Documentation, Coding, Billing, Compliance, Litigation Support, Revenue Enhancement, Revenue Cycle Operations, and Professional Communications.

With over 30 years of experience in healthcare management, Susan held prior positions of Senior Manager of Outpatient Consulting Services with the 3M Company, Vice-President of Accounts Receivable Management with MedPartners, Vice President of Outpatient Consulting Services with Healthcare Management Advisors, and Fair Hearing Officer for Georgia’s Medicare Carrier.  She has also served as Past President of the American Academy of Professional Coders’ National Advisory Board.



CERTIFICATIONS:

Certified Health Care Auditor (CHCA) from the Association of Health Care Auditors & Educators (AHCAE)

Certified Health Care Auditor - Surgery (CHCAS) from the Association of Health Care Auditors & Educators (AHCAE)

Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC) from the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

Certified Professional Coder (CPC) for physician practices from the AAPC

Certified Coding Specialist for physician services (CCS-P) from the American Health Information Management Association

Certified Patient Account Representative (CPAR) from the Healthcare Financial Management Association

Certified Professional Coder for hospital services (COC) from the AAPC

PUBLICATIONS:

”Outpatient Surgery Coding”–Healthcare Management Advisors’ comprehensive coding resource for surgery coding in the outpatient hospital setting.

”Mastering the Reimbursement Process”–a contributing author for an AMA publication covering physician practice policies for understanding the revenue cycle and its impact on reimbursement.

”Understanding APGs”– Healthcare Management Advisors’ booklet introducing the APG payment system.

Additionally, numerous articles for AAPC’s Coding Edge, Decision Health’s many publications, HCPro’s newsletters, among others.

PRESENTATIONS:

Keynote Presentations:           

            The Human Coder – National AAPC conference           

            Risk, Revenue, Reputation – National AAPC conference, Palmetto Coders’     
            annual meeting, and Newport News AAPC chapter’s annual meeting           

            Listen, Laugh, Learn – Wisconsin Medical Society conference, Ingenix’s
            national conference, National AAPC conference, and Greater Atlanta AAPC
            summit

            Accentuate the Positive in Coding – National AAPC conference, The Coding
            Institute's national conference, and Greater Atlanta AAPC summit 

Educational Conference and Audioconference Presentations:

Tricky Modifier Issues –Ingenix’s national conference and National AAPC conference

Bundling Issues – National AAPC conference and regional AAPC workshop conference

Know Why and the 7 Do’s (a compliance oriented process) – Greater Atlanta AAPC summit and AAHAM’s national conferences

How to Communicate Coding Concepts – National AAPC conference and Regional AAPC workshop conference

Preparing for ICD-10 – Wisconsin Medical Society conference, Greater Atlanta AAPC summit, AAHAM’s national conferences, and Ingenix audioconference

Lightning Bolt Chart Auditing – National AAPC conference, Greater Atlanta AAPC summit, GAHIMA annual meeting, MGMA audioconference, and PBR audioconference

The Mystery of History – Magnus Confidential audioconference

Breaking Down the Surgery Section of CPT – Magnus Confidential’s audioconference series

Mastering Medical Decision Making – Magnus Confidential audioconference

Interventional Radiology Coding – HCPro audioconference

Modifier 59 for Hospital Services – HCPro audioconference

Global Surgery Coding – Magnus Confidential audioconference and Ingenix annual national conference

Full-day/Multi-day Seminars:

            Expert E/M Chart Auditing – nationwide

            Outpatient Hospital Issues with APCs – nationwide

            Advanced E/M Coding – nationwide

            Surgery Chart Auditing – nationwide

            Modifier Coding – nationwide

            Bundling Issues – nationwide

            How to Communicate Coding Concepts – nationwide

            Preparing for ICD-10 – nationwide