Medical Cost Containment
Diagnosis codes and modifiers aren’t just billing details—they tell the story that determines how your claims are paid. When these elements don’t align, hospitals face denials, delays, and compliance risks. This session will break down how to accurately connect coding choices with billing practices to ensure claims reflect true clinical intent, reduce audit exposure, and secure appropriate reimbursement.
Learning Objectives:
- Recognize the most common coding and modifier missteps that lead to denials and learn how to avoid them through stronger documentation and coding practices.
- Implement strategies to bridge gaps between clinical, coding, and billing teams—ensuring consistent, compliant claims that tell the right story from documentation to payment.
Revenue Cycle Management
Stephanie Sjogren
Director, Coding and Provider Reimbursement
EmblemHealth/Connecticare
Stephanie Sjogren is a director of coding and provider reimbursement, working with payment integrity to ensure proper claims adjudication and to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse. Prior to joining ConnectiCare/EmblemHealth, she performed provider audits and education at a women’s healthcare group. Sjogren has also worked with physicians and staff to integrate and use electronic health record systems effectively and to stay in compliance with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ rules and regulations. Her areas of specialty are payment integrity, auditing, and clinical documentation improvement.
Industry benchmarks to measure the impact of payment integrity currently don't exist, making it challenging to optimize performance and areas of opportunity. Standards are extremely complicated due to varied member populations and an inconsistent approach to calculating metrics.
In this groundbreaking panel discussion, learn how a Working Group of payer and vendor SMEs have been collaborating over the last six months to develop a standard approach to calculating savings PMPM across LOB and audit programs. This session will share standard definitions and calculations, so attendees can understand how to calculate and compare their savings PMPM.
Payment Integrity
Moderator
Natalie Clayton
Head of Market Intelligence
Kisaco Research
Monique Pierce
Payment Solutions & Operations
Cohere Health
Monique started her Payment Integrity career in COB at Oxford HealthPlans. After the merger with UnitedHealthcare, she led multiple teams and was responsible for creating innovative programs. Monique joined SCIO Health Analytics in 2014 and was responsible for system and process improvements before being promoted to VP of client engagement and business optimization In 2020, Monique joined start-up Devoted Health and created a full suite of programs from the ground up. Based on a passion for metrics and measuring performance, she centralized and standardized all programs reducing implementation time and maximizing savings. Today, Monique is driving opportunities to improve claim payment by designing and developing new prior auth and claim reconciliation products at Cohere Health.
Dr Priscilla Alfaro, MD, FAAP, CPC, CPMA, COC, CIC, CFE
VP Payment Integrity
Blue Cross NC
Dr. Priscilla Alfaro is a seasoned healthcare professional with extensive experience in executive medical management, fraud prevention, and healthcare analytics. A certified medical coder, fraud examiner, and auditor, she has a proven track record of improving healthcare efficiency and preventing fraud, waste, and abuse across various roles and affiliations, including the Texas HHS and Anthem.
Curated meetings based on your RCM/PI painpoints and investments -30 minutes each -3 meetings per registered individual -All those not scheduled to take meetings will be encouraged to take part in interactive sessions, competitions and activities in the exhibition room.
Medical Cost Containment
Take a break to grab a drink, enjoy a snack, and connect with presenters after their sessions. Don’t miss the interactive sessions and competitions happening in the exhibition room during this time!
Medical Cost Containment
This session will explore the financial impact of federal legislation updates, such as upcoming price transparency rules, on both payment integrity and revenue cycle management programs. We’ll examine how these changes are expected to drive new cost pressures, reshape audit and payment practices, and create fresh challenges for both payers and providers. The discussion will also focus on collaborative strategies - how both sides can work together to ensure compliance, mitigate financial risk, and proactively adapt their programs to achieve better outcomes in a shifting regulatory landscape.
Medical Cost Containment
Dave Cardelle
Chief Strategy Officer
AMS
Symone Rosales
Director of Revenue Cycle Regulatory Research
SSM Health
Deborah Knight-Lauricia
Senior Director, Revenue Cycle Strategic Initiatives
Cleveland Clinic
AMS Intelligent Analytics
Website: http://www.amspredict.com/
Advanced Medical Strategies (AMS) is the premier provider of payment integrity, risk management, and business intelligence solutions to identify and address excessive claims, prevent and recoup overpayments, and effectively manage the risks associated with high-cost claimants and group health underwriting.
Medical Cost Containment
Mark Buehrer
PE Founder & CEO
heartfoods
Priya Kesavan
Principal, Azure AI Systems Strategy
Microsoft
Priya Kesavan is an AI Strategy Principal at Microsoft. In her current role, she leads the development of long-term strategies and roadmaps for Microsoft's in-house AI hardware systems. In the past, Priya held several leadership positions in product management for SoC and systems development at Intel and Cisco. Driven by a passion for harnessing AI to address complex real-world challenges and improve user experiences, she is a strong advocate for "AI for good." Priya is also committed to empowering women in technology and AI, spearheading initiatives to foster their growth and advancement. She holds a degree in Computer Engineering from Madras University.