Henson’s skills increase collections
Medical coding is her specialty and her expertise is helping to increase collections for the Pea Ridge Fire-EMS Department.
Stephanie Henson also has a vested interested in the success of the department. Her husband, Shane, is a firefighter with the department.
“My ultimate goal is timely filing and the safety of our people,” she said.
Henson grew up in Farmington, studied business at Northwest Arkansas Community College, and has earned certifications as a Certified Professional Coder and a Certified Ambulance Coder. She worked as a medical coder for
Mercy Medical. Before that, she worked for 12 years for Walmart as a merchandising specialist.
When working with Walmart, Henson worked for a time as supervisor on the line for the complaints.
“Doing that has helped with my patience — and patients,” she said. She answers the phone at the fire department assisting patients, insurance companies and all who call with questions. She works in the office from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Henson said her mother works with medical coding and shares her experiences with her, counseling her when she needs advice.
“Medicare and Medicaid changed everything January 1,” she said. Timely filing of bills is essential to recover costs on ambulance bills, she said.
Fire Chief Jack Wassman praised Henson’s benefit to the department. “Organization skills is a big thing she’s going to bring to the Fire Department,” he said.
“Having someone here to answer phone and door, may sound very simple, but it’s a help. With 25 different people here part time, you may not get same person in that week,” Wassman said.
“She already, with medical billing, had far exceeded what we had ever dreamed. The actual returns on the billing … we learned the old medical billing was not doing their job.”
He said that the department outsourced billing to two different companies over the past several years and hasn’t had anyone in house since Shirley Harris managed the billing. Harris worked for the department from 1992-2010.
Stephanie and Shane Henson met on a blind date; they have been married 13 years and have two daughters, Briana, 12, and Leah, 9. Shane works in transportation for Walmart.
The moved to Pea Ridge because they wanted their children to attend Pea Ridge schools.