CE Webinar: Insurance Ins & Outs, Donna Smith

Do you feel comfortable explaining insurance technicalities to your clients? This webinar will provide you with information which is helpful for you to understand the nuances of insurance and utilize on behalf of your clients. The presentation includes a review and explanation of the three most common, costly pitfalls and misunderstandings of billing. You will learn the basic terminology necessary to understanding insurance documents. Finally, you will discover six reasons why a medical bill might be wrong and will help you to know what to look for when reviewing medical bills.
Program Objectives:

1. Distill the complexity of insurance plans and claims administration into the three most common and costly causes of billing issues and how to mitigate them.
2. By understanding insurance plan terminology, attendees will be able to help themselves or their clients make decisions that can help reduce their out-of-pocket insurance costs.   

 Donna Smith, Board Certified Patient Advocate
Founder and Owner of Capitol Healthcare Advocates

Donna's journey in healthcare began when she was four years old when her life was saved by a highly-skilled surgeon who repaired her complex congenital heart defect.  Insurance saved Donna's parents from financial hardships by paying most of the costs.  At that time, the healthcare system provided more answers than questions and helped guide her parents from diagnosis to recovery.  The year was 1960. A lot has changed since then.

Today, Donna has over 30 years’ experience managing health insurance plans, appeals, and negotiating claim resolutions. Having managed health insurance plans for employees of small and large employers, Donna saw the negative impact that increased plan costs and complexity had on the people they were supposed to protect.  She became an advocate for people trying to get care from convoluted medical systems and fighting to correct insurance bills. Donna feels privileged to see how people’s lives could be improved when they were able to access to medical care and receive proper insurance benefits.

She earned a Certificate in Health Advocacy from UC Berkeley and is a Board Certified Patient Advocate.  Donna’s business, Capitol Healthcare Advocates, focuses on the resolution of medical billing issues.

Full Members: $10 for CEs; Free without CEs

Access the webinar.

Access Donna's Powerpoint presentation.

Webinar: The Advocacy Process from Screening to Discharge

Speaker: Melynda Ruckels, RN MSN, Patient Advocate. Whether you are just starting out on your own as a Healthcare Advocate, or already have an established practice, this webinar will provide a streamlined, step-by-step plan from initial screening to discharge of the client. Starting with the initial 15-minute complimentary phone call, we will cover signing a contract and HIPAA forms, vetting providers, facilitating healthcare team meetings, and, most importantly, educating the client and family to make informed decisions to become their own advocates. 

Program Objectives:

1. The participant will be able to list the screening and assessment process of contracting with a new client.
2. The participant will gain knowledge of how to facilitate a team meeting with the medical/healthcare team.
3. The participant will gain knowledge of obtaining HIPAA compliant medical records.
4. The participant will gain tools to facilitate and work within the family dynamics which includes patient education.

 Melynda Ruckels, RN MSN, Patient Advocate

Melynda Ruckels, RN MSN, has been a nurse for over 44 years. She is a Holistic nurse with a clinical background in emergency room nursing, critical care nursing in the hospital ICU/CCU, mobile ICU, and Community Education for Health and Wellness. As a patient advocate, her goal is educating clients to become their own advocate and assist them in navigating America’s complicated healthcare system. She has a private practice in the Sacramento, Grass Valley/Nevada City area, offering Patient Advocacy, Hypnotherapy, and Energy Medicine services. Melynda is currently working as a consultant to a private ambulance company in Sacramento exploring different levels of Advocacy Transport for those needing an advocate and transportation.

She has been a guest speaker for the Healthcare Workforce Initiative, the Los Rios Community College Nursing Advisory Committee, the American Holistic Nurses Association Sacramento Chapter, California School Nurses Organization, and a panel speaker for California State University, Sacramento Nurse Entrepreneur event. Melynda is a nursing professor and has taught at all levels of nursing education, including Associate Degree (ADN) programs, Bachelors and Masters Programs. Melynda says that “helping people to heal and to awaken to their own healing abilities is a privilege and a joy that she experiences each time she sits with a client.” 

Click here for webinar.