Meet Lori Austin
Revenue Cycle Coding Strategies (RCCS) Director of Accounting and Finance, Lori Austin, has a long history of accounting and insurance experience. She has been in the industry for almost 40 years and about seven years ago, she joined the RCCS team.
At the start of her career, Lori began working in a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) firm and eventually made her way into the private industry, where she said she has spent a lot of time in the insurance industry. For 20 years, she was a part of the Farmers Insurance team before transitioning to several small insurance brokers and eventually working for a life insurance company.
After working with a larger corporation and several mid-sized corporations, Lori found working for the smaller insurance broker to be her favorite setting.
“It was probably like 50 employees I would say,” she explains. “I just really liked that you could directly see the outcome of financial decisions that were made.”
Looking for a change, Lori finally ended up at RCCS. She began working as a senior accountant and eventually transitioned to a financial analytics focus, where RCCS needed someone to oversee both finance and accounting.
Now, almost seven years later, Lori explains one of the main reasons she has stayed loyal to the company for so long is her love for her coworkers.
“I just think the people here really work together well,” she says. “And everybody generally has the same goal for the company.”
Lori said she also enjoys the size of the company and the constant opportunities for growth.
While Lori said the work can be challenging and they are never truly sitting in one spot, she also really enjoys the flow of her work and finds it to be continually interesting.
“I feel like, at times, accounting tends to be like a treadmill because you do the same thing over and over every month,” she explains. “But it's not like that here because there's always some new twist, some new thing that's happening, [and] some new improvement we're trying to implement.”
Beyond the consulting and educational work RCCS provides to clients, its leaders extend their expertise to other focal points in the industry such as philanthropy, tradeshows, political involvement, legal support, and more. Lori and her team are part of the behind-the-scenes engine that allows RCCS to keep daily operations running and make this impact in the industry. Through meticulous accounting and financial analytics, they translate ideas into tangible numbers, facilitating strategic advancements for the company.
“We’re the people supporting leadership to put actual numbers to ideas and find ways to make things happen,” Lori says. “Making those strategic decisions drives the company along.”
Lori also played a pivotal role in streamlining RCCS' financial analytics into a service available to clients. What started as an internal move to track return on investment on RCCS solutions to fuel staffing and pricing decisions became much more.
As Revenue Cycle client work gained momentum, Lori's team expanded their use of financial analytics, now leveraging it to enhance client deliverables, analyze revenue cycles, manage claim denials, evaluate ROI for medical equipment, assist with valuations and strategic decisions, and much more.
The biggest part of financial analytics revolves around analyzing the revenue cycle, Lori explained. This entails dissecting the entire process from patient registration to accounts receivable follow up, focusing on key metrics such as denial rates, collections, and avoidable write-offs. By doing so, the team can effectively support clients by identifying opportunities, uncovering root causes of denials, and ultimately optimizing the revenue cycle process. The financial analytics team analyzes data to provide insight on optimizing processes that further enhance the patient journey. They then translate these insights into easily understandable presentations, helping clients make strategic decisions based on data.
“It might be directly client-facing [or] it might just be doing the work on the back end and then feeding it to someone else that's client-facing,” she explains happily. “But either way, it’s a huge addition to our client work capabilities, and it’s really exciting to watch it grow.”
When Lori isn't assisting RCCS with crucial financial decisions, she finds solace in sports and the great outdoors.
"I love to be outdoors," she says happily. "We go boating a lot."
Residing in Austin, Texas, Lori and her family are avid UT (The University of Texas) supporters, often attending basketball and football games. Additionally, Lori finds joy in reading, family time, and church activities.
Above all, she treasures moments spent with her 11-month-old granddaughter.
"I love to play with my grandbaby," she beamed. "That's probably my favorite thing."
Lori’s success at RCCS is a testament to the value of behind-the-scenes work. RCCS is a company full of well-known subject matter experts, but nothing can happen if the company’s finances and operations aren’t running smoothly, which is where Lori and her team shine.
Revenue Cycle Coding Strategies (RCCS) Director of Accounting and Finance, Lori Austin, has a long history of accounting and insurance experience. She has been in the industry for almost 40 years and about seven years ago, she joined the RCCS team.
At the start of her career, Lori began working in a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) firm and eventually made her way into the private industry, where she said she has spent a lot of time in the insurance industry. For 20 years, she was a part of the Farmers Insurance team before transitioning to several small insurance brokers and eventually working for a life insurance company.
After working with a larger corporation and several mid-sized corporations, Lori found working for the smaller insurance broker to be her favorite setting.
“It was probably like 50 employees I would say,” she explains. “I just really liked that you could directly see the outcome of financial decisions that were made.”
Looking for a change, Lori finally ended up at RCCS. She began working as a senior accountant and eventually transitioned to a financial analytics focus, where RCCS needed someone to oversee both finance and accounting.
Now, almost seven years later, Lori explains one of the main reasons she has stayed loyal to the company for so long is her love for her coworkers.
“I just think the people here really work together well,” she says. “And everybody generally has the same goal for the company.”
Lori said she also enjoys the size of the company and the constant opportunities for growth.
While Lori said the work can be challenging and they are never truly sitting in one spot, she also really enjoys the flow of her work and finds it to be continually interesting.
“I feel like, at times, accounting tends to be like a treadmill because you do the same thing over and over every month,” she explains. “But it's not like that here because there's always some new twist, some new thing that's happening, [and] some new improvement we're trying to implement.”
Beyond the consulting and educational work RCCS provides to clients, its leaders extend their expertise to other focal points in the industry such as philanthropy, tradeshows, political involvement, legal support, and more. Lori and her team are part of the behind-the-scenes engine that allows RCCS to keep daily operations running and make this impact in the industry. Through meticulous accounting and financial analytics, they translate ideas into tangible numbers, facilitating strategic advancements for the company.
“We’re the people supporting leadership to put actual numbers to ideas and find ways to make things happen,” Lori says. “Making those strategic decisions drives the company along.”
Lori also played a pivotal role in streamlining RCCS' financial analytics into a service available to clients. What started as an internal move to track return on investment on RCCS solutions to fuel staffing and pricing decisions became much more.
As Revenue Cycle client work gained momentum, Lori's team expanded their use of financial analytics, now leveraging it to enhance client deliverables, analyze revenue cycles, manage claim denials, evaluate ROI for medical equipment, assist with valuations and strategic decisions, and much more.
The biggest part of financial analytics revolves around analyzing the revenue cycle, Lori explained. This entails dissecting the entire process from patient registration to accounts receivable follow up, focusing on key metrics such as denial rates, collections, and avoidable write-offs. By doing so, the team can effectively support clients by identifying opportunities, uncovering root causes of denials, and ultimately optimizing the revenue cycle process. The financial analytics team analyzes data to provide insight on optimizing processes that further enhance the patient journey. They then translate these insights into easily understandable presentations, helping clients make strategic decisions based on data.
“It might be directly client-facing [or] it might just be doing the work on the back end and then feeding it to someone else that's client-facing,” she explains happily. “But either way, it’s a huge addition to our client work capabilities, and it’s really exciting to watch it grow.”
When Lori isn't assisting RCCS with crucial financial decisions, she finds solace in sports and the great outdoors.
"I love to be outdoors," she says happily. "We go boating a lot."
Residing in Austin, Texas, Lori and her family are avid UT (The University of Texas) supporters, often attending basketball and football games. Additionally, Lori finds joy in reading, family time, and church activities.
Above all, she treasures moments spent with her 11-month-old granddaughter.
"I love to play with my grandbaby," she beamed. "That's probably my favorite thing."
Lori’s success at RCCS is a testament to the value of behind-the-scenes work. RCCS is a company full of well-known subject matter experts, but nothing can happen if the company’s finances and operations aren’t running smoothly, which is where Lori and her team shine.
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