Norma Mercado
Teaching Experience
AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Austin, Texas
DEPARTMENT CHAIR, HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Start up Health Information Technology Program at Austin Community College. Develop curriculum, classes and coding practicum (internship) for the Program. Program coordination, budget, and planning for the Health Information Technology Program. Develop curriculum for the Medical Coding & Health Information Technology Program. Recruit students into program and advise them on degree plans. Supervise five (5) adjunct faculty and 174 students. Teach Health Data Content & Structure, Coding Practicum, Coding & Classification Systems, Coding & Reimbursement Methodologies, and Computers in Coding & Reimbursement. Responsible for student clinical placements and their supervision while at various facilities. Maintain budget for program and develop strategic plan for the next five years. Member of various campus-wide committees. 2001-Present
SOUTHWEST TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY, San Marcos, Texas
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
Academic setting at the University level. Taught classes in, Health Information Management, Utilization Management, Quality/Performance Improvement and Risk Management. Additional duties included student recruitment and curriculum development. Lectured on various topics when requested. Conducted research and published articles. Member of various committees. Supervised and placed 69+ students at clinical sites across the State. 1991-1995
- Contributed to the development of students and had a 100% compliance rate of students passing the National Examination.
Professional experience
AUSTIN STATE HOSPITAL, Austin, Texas
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
1000+ bed hospital, part of an 8 member State Mental Health Hospital System (TXMHMR) Responsible for the overall management of the Admissions and Medical Records Department. Responsible for the three shifts and 25 employees. Member of the medical records, utilization review, quality assurance and various other committees. Conducted admission review to determine if the psychiatric admissions were medical necessary. Reviewed denials and prepared reports. Monitored admissions for patterns and trends. Reviewed denials and prepared reports. Assisted Arthur Anderson in the design and implementation of the client Assessment and Registration System (CARE). Designed queries and special Ad Hoc reports. This Statewide system is still being utilized by the State of Texas Mental Health and Mental Retardation System.
- Maintained incomplete records to an all time low rate.
- Developed and designed all ad hoc reports for the CARE Statewide System.
VETERANS ADMINISTRATION MEDICAL CENTER, Waco, Texas
ASSISTANT CHIEF, MEDICAL INFORMATION SERVICES
1200-bed government hospital, including acute care, psychiatric, nursing home and rehabilitation units. Responsible for auditing, monitoring and evaluation of Nursing Home and Rehabilitation units as well as the other department. Responsible for the overall Medical Information Services for approximately 1-1/2 years. Conducted medical audits for all committees. Kept minutes for all committees. Member of the utilization review, medical audit and medical records committees. Supervised 12 employees. 1981-1983
- Conducted abstraction studies on Agent Orange.
- Ensured purging of file room annually.
BEXAR COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH AND MENTAL RETARDATION, San Antonio, Texas
MEDICAL RECORD TECHNICIAN THEN DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL RECORDS
Responsible for the overall management of six medical record departments across the City of San Antonio. Conducted medical audits, statistical reports, performed daily analysis on records. 1979-1980
- Developed the overall implementation of microfilming of records for the Center.
- Developed and implemented medical audits for the Center.
Professional Experience
SUMMIT HOSPITAL OF CENTRAL TEXAS, Austin, Texas
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, DIRECTOR OF RISK MANAGEMENT, UTILIZATION MANAGEMENT, QUALITY, COMPLIANCE AND PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT
Assisted with the start-up of the new hospital both in Texas and Arizona. 41-bed long term, acute care hospital, part of a 12-hospital network nationwide. Responsible for the Monitoring and Evaluation, Risk Management, Health Information Management, Utilization Management, Quality Assurance, Compliance and Performance Improvement department of the Hospital. Responsible for the planning, coordinating, controlling and directing of these departments. Responsible for overseeing the Safety Department of the Hospital. Trained safety staff on JCAHO standards and quality improvement reports. Co-chaired safety committee. Analyzed data to monitor for patterns and trends in care and outcomes. Responsible for eliminating over and underutilization of services and inefficient scheduling. Maintained hospital wide quality/performance improvement programs. Monitored length of stay and utilization of services. Traveled across the nation to assist in the opening and start-up of hospitals. Set up Utilization Management, Risk/Safety Management, Health Information Management and Quality/Performance Improvement Departments. Designed forms for a standardized medical record system. Trend medication, sentinel and other incidents. Reported to Governing Board. Supervised four employees. 1995-1998
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Increased revenue by successfully admitting all patients with appropriate criteria.
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Wrote Utilization Management plans for hospitals across the nation.
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Lead Hospital to a successful JCAHO survey. Scored 94 out of 100 points.
JOINT COMMISSION ON ACCEDITATION OF HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATION/TEXAS HEALTH QUALITY ALLIANCE, Austin, Texas
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT/HIPAA OFFICER
Assisted with the start-up and coordination of Texas Health Quality Alliance.
Quality monitor for the State of Texas, conduct studies on the Medicaid Managed Care population. Assist with report cards. Responsible for the overall data quality program which included data abstraction and review, validation, quality improvement/IQC program, assist with study design and methodology. Startup organization, write policies and procedures, training manual, quarterly reports and annual designs. Assist with the development of nomenclature and classification system classification for the unique Medicaid coding system, NCQA Standards. ICD-9-CM, HCPCS and CPT-4. Use MedQuest, Excel, Power Point, Microsoft Access, and other software. Conduct studies on utilization management and performance objectives for the Medicaid Managed Care population for the State of Texas. Responsible for the validation of the MCOs efficiency in providing necessary services in the most cost-effective manner possible. Evaluate the level of care required and assess options, with the goal of eliminating over underutilization of services through various reports. Responsible for the overall data quality program, which includes data collection (abstraction) and review, validation, quality improvement and internal quality program. 1998 to 2001
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Developed crosswalks for the ICD-9-CM AND CPT coding classifications for the UM/PO studies.
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Obtained a 40% compliance rate on the Provider Satisfaction Survey.
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Trained 40+ employee on the data collection and review software tools.
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Maintained 95% accuracy rate for data in the Data Collection & Review Division
SUMMIT HOSPITAL OF CENTRAL TEXAS, Austin, Texas
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, DIRECTOR OF RISK MANAGEMENT, UTILIZATION MANAGEMENT, QUALITY, COMPLIANCE AND PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT
Assisted with the start-up of the new hospital both in Texas and Arizona. 41-bed long term, acute care hospital, part of a 12-hospital network nationwide. Responsible for the Monitoring and Evaluation, Risk Management, Health Information Management, Utilization Management, Quality Assurance, Compliance and Performance Improvement department of the Hospital. Responsible for the planning, coordinating, controlling and directing of these departments. Responsible for overseeing the Safety Department of the Hospital. Trained safety staff on JCAHO standards and quality improvement reports. Co-chaired safety committee. Analyzed data to monitor for patterns and trends in care and outcomes. Responsible for eliminating over and underutilization of services and inefficient scheduling. Maintained hospital wide quality/performance improvement programs. Monitored length of stay and utilization of services. Traveled across the nation to assist in the opening and start-up of hospitals. Set up Utilization Management, Risk/Safety Management, Health Information Management and Quality/Performance Improvement Departments. Designed forms for a standardized medical record system. Trend medication, sentinel and other incidents. Reported to Governing Board. Supervised four employees. 1995-1998
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Increased revenue by successfully admitting all patients with appropriate criteria. Had only 1 patient denial by HCFA during my tenure at Summit Hospital.
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Wrote Utilization Management plans for hospitals across the nation.
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Lead Hospital to a successful JCAHO survey. Scored 94 out of 100 points.
Published: August 14, 2024