Audra Ficken

Background

About Audra Ficken

Currently, I am the Billing Manager at Complete Health, a Rapid City-based FQHC with medical and dental clinics. In this role, I manage a team of 8 people juggling all components of the revenue cycle from credentialing to patient collections. In the first 3 months of my position, I developed a plan to reduce backlog of denials and stale claims. By my 6th month, the billing department achieved a 20% reduction in A/R dollars. By eight months, we acheived a significant reduction in days in A/R. Previously, as the Member Account Manager at Workit Health, I oversaw pre-submission billing processes including eligibility, chargemasters, claim submission, and clearinghouse rejections. A major accomplishment included manually submitting 40k claims from our old system backlog in less than 2 months in preparation for our new EHR system. Our team also increased revenue by $500k in less than 3 months through strategic denial clean-up and improving claim submission automation. Through Workit Health, I maintained up-to-date knowledge on Medicaid, UHC, BCBS, and other major payers in 20 states.Previously, I have worked in post-submission RCM processes at both Workit Health and Guidehouse resolving payer rejections and denials where I consistently resolved over 45 accounts daily for multiple clinics, completed EHR training for many new hires, and conducted various audit projects as needed. I have become proficient in helping patients navigate insurance and billing issues ensuring they are treated with compassion and empathy. In addition to my Revenue Cycle experience, I have worked as an Environmental Scientist for the State of South Dakota and Banner Associates. Although I am no longer pursuing this career field, it taught me invaluable skills such as technical writing, attention-to-detail, project budgeting, and data analysis. Non-profit work is deeply important to me. My love of wildlife and environmental causes is nurtured through my work for the Black Hills Raptor Center, where I support bird of prey education and rehabilitation. Additionally, I volunteer as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for foster youth, where I advocate for their best interests and well-being. Ask me about being a CASA! In my area, over 400 children are in the system without a CASA. Stats may be similar near you!