Claudia Baker, RN, MHA, HCS-D, HCS-O, is senior manager with SimiTree Healthcare Consulting. She has experience in the areas of compliance integrity, quality improvement, and managing regional and corporate operations. She has excellent leadership and analytical skills with a proven track record in compliance, regulatory oversight, and direct management roles in home health, hospice, and private duty settings. Of her 35 years in healthcare, 28 have centered around home-based services. Her experience includes development of clinical software applications for the industries. She also has extensive experience with consultation and education for home health and hospice agencies, specifically related to workflow process and improvement.

Elise Christensen, RN, HCS-D, COS-C, coding manager with Hartford Healthcare, has been an RN for approaching 34 years. She has spent almost 20 years practicing in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) setting caring for high-risk newborns. During her NICU career, she continued caring for some of her tiny patients as they transitioned home, thus beginning her home health career. She has now spent over 25 years in the home health industry. Her home health positions held include pediatric and adult field nurse, marketer, coder, and senior leader. For the last 11 years, she has been involved full time in coding and OASIS review, serving as a frontline reviewer, educator/mentor, and coding director. Currently, she is serving as leader of the coding and OASIS review team for a very large hospital-based home health and hospice agency. As a commitment to excellence, Christensen has held uninterrupted HCS-D and COS-C certifications for the past nine years and is a member of both AHCC and AHIMA in good standing.

Kelly Kavanaugh, RN, HCS-D, HCS-H, HCS-O, BCHH-C, has been in home health and hospice for 30 years. She has worked as an agency owner & administrator, DON, and director of education; her experience also spans billing/claims, field nursing, marketing, QAPI, and OASIS review & coding. She has been coding & OASIS certified for 15+ years.

Nanette Minton, RN, HCS-D, HCS-H, HCS-O, is the senior clinical coding manager at MAC Legacy. Serving in a leadership capacity for more than 20 years, Minton has held a variety of roles in the home care and hospice industry, including clinical, administrative, consulting, education, and agency startup and development. She provides day-to-day coding and quality support to the home care and hospice agencies receiving coding services. She also serves as a consultant for quality and regulatory issues that arise due to the complex and integrated nature of coding. Minton’s experience in the industry gives her a unique perspective and allows her to provide coding and audit knowledge firsthand to clients.

Apryl Swafford, RN, BSN, COS-C, HCS-D, HCS-H, is QA manager with SimiTree Healthcare Consulting. She has more than 20 years of experience in home health. She began her nursing career in 1994 with a BSN from Jacksonville State University in Alabama and has worked as a case manager, clinical manager, and leader of a cardiopulmonary specialty program. Swafford is a certified OASIS specialist (COS-C) as well as having coding certifications in both home health and hospice (HCS-D, HCS-H). She has led multiple coding and OASIS classes for agencies, as well as speaking on topics of interest to home care and hospice agencies, such as OASIS-E, home health regulations, PDGM, outcomes management, and others, at many state associations. As QA manager for SimiTree, Swafford monitors the overall quality of coding, OASIS, and plan of care reviews completed by both full-time and contract auditors. She works in conjunction with the QA specialists and education department to identify topics of education to address any trending issues noted in QA reviews. She also assists with onboarding new auditors as needed and assists team managers with completing coding and OASIS reviews when volumes increase.

Pamela Wandrie, MA, CCC-SLP, HCS-D, HCS-O, is a coding and OASIS QA specialist at SimiTree Healthcare Consulting. She has over 29 years of experience in home healthcare, with 23 years spent in the field as a skilled therapy provider. Her clinical experience includes a variety of acute and post-acute care settings, with an emphasis on evidence-based practice. In 2016 she transitioned to a coding and OASIS quality assurance and education role. Her experience includes coding and OASIS reviewer mentorship, education development and delivery, development and maintenance of coding and OASIS assessments, as well as real-time and post-audit QA of coding, OASIS, and plan of care reviews.