Jennifer Ezell, left, an acute care nurse practitioner, was given the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Faculty Nurse Award by Marilyn Dubree, chief nursing officer, at the annual State of Nursing address last week.
photo by Kats Barry
Vanderbilt Medical Group ranked second among 56 respondents in the University HealthSystem Consor-tium/Association of American Medical Colleges 2004 Billing Office Survey.
The survey ranks academic faculty practice groups based on key business office cost and performance indicators, as well as on use of billing technology.
One of the key performance indicators for billing is the level of unresolved bills, called accounts receivable. An article about VMG billing that accompanied the survey results noted that in recent years the medical group has managed to reduce its level of accounts receivable by nearly half.
The article from UHC/AAMC in particular credited the work of former VMG Chief Financial Officer Phyllis L. Ekdall (now chief operating officer of children's services for VMG), VMG Director of Revenue Mark E. Hubbard, and VMG billing directors Bryon D. Pickard and Jerrold H. Batte.