Name: Douglas 'Woody' Duncan, CPC

Title: Medical Bill Analyst

Facility: Alaska VA Healthcare System & Regional Office

Location: Anchorage, AK

Q: How did you become a hospital auditor?

Woody Duncan: I started as a bill payer for the 'fee' (medical) department of the VA. The codes I was entering piqued my interest, so I took some classes to learn coding. While taking them, I was offered a new position auditing the claims. (The facility had not reviewed claims before.) Upon obtaining my certified professional coder certification, I was given a higher grade with more responsibilities.

Q: What is one aspect of your position that you enjoy?

Woody Duncan: The challenge of keeping up with our changing rules and regulations keeps my curiosity piqued, and helps when presenting reasons why we have to do what we do. This in turn helps me give information to the varied providers who care for our vets. The information that I provide helps them present clean claims to Medicare and the various insurance companies.

Q: What is the biggest auditing challenge you face and why?

Woody Duncan: Keeping the differing sets of rules and regulations straight can be my biggest challenge due to the variety of claims (e.g., APC, OPPS, DRG, etc.) that we audit. We audit each invoice separately.

Q: Do you have any advice for new auditors?

Woody Duncan: Learn all the basic information you can, and then subscribe to every e-list you can. That way you will be able to stay current with all the changes. This will help you to always have the right information so that you can help your providers.