April 11, 2023The Revenue Services team at Northern Health provides a financial billing and collection service to the organisation for a number of different patient accounts. The team is comprised of multiple key areas that liaise directly with patients, insurance companies and third-party compensable companies (TAC and Workcover Insurance) regarding hospital accounts.
The four areas of Revenue Services are:
- Private Patient Liaison Officers (PLO’s)
- Cashiers and Collections
- Patient Billing
- Doctor Billing and Payments
The Revenue Services team consists of 22 staff members, ranging from cashiering, patient accounts management, accounts payable and receivable. They use their knowledge and skills to assist patients on their journey through the healthcare system. A large amount of their efforts is focused on Medicare Ineligible Patients, who they help guide through the complexities of fees and insurance companies, while also maintaining a sympathetic approach. The team pride themselves on never turning a patient away, regardless of their financial abilities.
In addition, the team support TAC and Workcover Patients in making claims and by letting them know what they are entitled to, in order to help them recuperate faster. Private patients are also a big part of Revenue Services role, and these patients are given the option to use their private health insurance for hospital admissions instead of Medicare.
Revenue Services Doctor Liaison, Sharon Caruso, is one of the many staff members who have been working at Northern Health Revenue Services for a number of years, and she speaks very fondly of the team.
“I’ve always felt privileged to work at Northern Health and blessed to be able to reach our community. I’ve been part of a great team for the past 12 years and I’m excited to see what the future will bring,” she said.
“Thirteen years of Revenue Services have been challenging and rewarding at the same time. Working with supportive co-workers makes every day at Northern Health feel new and exciting,” said Revenue Services Patient Accounts, Angela Maniatis.
Revenue Services, Acting Manager, Betty Smilevski, reflects on the past few years during the pandemic and says that even though there have been many challenges, the team has been able to adapt to trials and become who they are today.
“We are all self-sufficient, reliable and problem-solving individuals who work together towards our goal to raise as much revenue for the hospital as possible. The tests we faced during the pandemic separated the team into Team A and Team B. We also had several of our staff being seconded to other areas of the organisation to assist with the need, i.e., Pathology, COVID Monitoring and the Emergency Department,” she said.
“We are still dealing with the aftermath of COVID-19, even today. We experienced a high turnover in a short period of time, but have since come back as a stronger and more pro-active team.”
In 2023, the team is excited about implementing development and reaching stability. They have goals in place that they are willing to work toward, and they believe these can transform the department. The team has already made big progress towards these goals since the start of the year. This can be seen in the increase in revenue and the establishment of close collaboration and strong working relationships with other departments within Northern Health.
Thank you to the Revenue Services team for all your hard work!
Pictured: Revenue Services team
