PLANTATION, Fla., Nov. 30, 2011 – Health Revenue Assurance Associates (HRAA), a leading provider of health information management services, has appointed Peggy Hapner, RHIA, CCS, CASCC, as director of ambulatory services, the company announced. 

Hapner joins HRAA with more than 25 years of experience in health information management, coding, teaching, data quality and operations.  Previously, she served as a manager for Medical Learning, Inc., where she was the technical expert for hospital outpatient health information management (HIM) services, responsible for the technical quality of those areas.  During her 16-year career with the company, she also contributed to projects in the company’s consulting, seminars and publications divisions. 

Prior to joining Medical Learning in 1994, Hapner was a healthcare consultant with St. Anthony Consulting, performing outpatient coding assessments and conducting on-site and mass market seminars.  In her role as senior healthcare consultant, she conducted HCPCS/CPT coding quality assessments in areas including ambulatory surgery, emergency departments and hospital-based outpatient clinics.  Hapner’s responsibilities during these on-site assignments included verifying documentation quality and code assignment, providing recommendations for medical record operations, and instructing facility staff on ICD-9-CM and CPT coding guidelines.

“I’ve known Peggy within the health information (HIM) and healthcare industry as a consultant, colleague and friend, and she brings a rich background of expertise to HRAA with a hospital outpatient and physician revenue cycle emphasis,” said Andrea Clark, HRAA founder and president. “Her nationwide experience, which includes speaking, writing and consulting, will immediately benefit our current and future clients.”

She also served as clinical data analyst and statistician at a major medical center for over five years.  In this position, she was responsible for coding and abstracting outpatient surgical and emergency room records, as well as providing leadership in developing the facility’s training and standards for CPT coding.

Hapner has developed and presented facility-specific and mass market seminars on  topics including outpatient coding, medical records data quality and ambulatory patient classifications (APCs). She has developed and taught courses in medical terminology, ICD-9-CM and CPT ambulatory/physician coding, transcription, health information management and clinical labs.

Hapner is a graduate ofOhioStateUniversitywith a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Information Management and Systems.  She earned an Associate’s Degree in Applied Science fromSinclairCommunity CollegeinDayton,Ohio.  She is a registered health information administrator (RHIA), a certified coding specialist (CCS) and a certifiedAmbulatorySurgeryCentercoder (CASCC).  In addition, she has received certification as an ICD-10 Trainer from the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).

Hapner is a member of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), Ohio Health Information Management Association, Miami Valley Health Information Management Association and theAmericanAcademyof Professional Coders (AAPC).