Authors

Joan L. Usher, BS, RHIA, HCS-D, ACE Joan is President of JLU Health Record Systems, a leader in Health Information Management and coding solutions. A nationally recognized expert in the field of health information management, Joan has taught coding for over 25 years and has educated over 20,000 people nationwide. She is author of the JLU Rapid Reference Coding Guide, an easy-to-use coding guide in ICD-10 for common home health diagnoses, and author or editor of numerous courses, books and articles on coding, reimbursement methods, clinical documentation improvement, and health record requirements. Courses available by Joan:

Annie Barnaby, CPC, CPCO, CDEO, CRC, CASCC Annie Barnaby dedicates her time to the professional development, education, and career counseling of medical coders and HIM professionals. Annie began her professional journey when she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Health Policy and Administration as a student at The Pennsylvania State University. She earned her first coding certification in 2005, and has enjoyed a rich coding career ever since, in medical coding and billing, recruiting, training, education, and management of medical coding teams. Annie currently works as a medical coding physician educator. She can be reached at Annie.barnaby@outlook.com

Linda Hyde, RHIA Linda Hyde is a consultant currently participating in projects related to electronic data collection for performance measurement and other initiatives. As a terminology analyst for these projects she regularly works with various classification and terminology systems including ICD9, ICD10, RxNorm, LOINC and SNOMED CT. She has extensive knowledge of data standards and data quality and regularly speaks and publishes on these topics. Linda has served as chair and member of the AHIMA Classification and Terminology and the Quality Measurement and Secondary Data Use practice councils, member of the AHIMA Enterprise Information Management as well as

Victoria Jennings, RHIA, CCS, CPC, AAPC-Approved Instructor Victoria is the new acquisitions/new provider Coding Educator with Millennium Physician Group, a large multispecialty physician group with over 500 providers throughout the state of Florida. She has worked in the Education field as a Program Director for an RHIT and Coding Diploma program and was responsible for their accreditation with CAHIIM. Vicki enjoyed a role within compliance with Lee Health as a compliance investigator and external Audit Coordinator. She has also worked as an outpatient and inpatient coder for the hospital side as well as a Profee coder and educator

Rebecca Harmon, MPM, RHIA, CCA Rebecca is an experienced health care professional, educator and academic consultant with expertise in course and program development, training/education and career coaching and mentoring. She blogs regularly for Libman Education and is the author of Discover Your Path:  A Map to Job Happiness. Rebecca returned to HIM practice in a leadership role after spending many years as an HIM educator. Tapping her broad history of diverse healthcare experience that began with a tour of duty in the U.S. Navy, she writes regularly and speaks on education, workforce issues, management and life. An energetic and engaging

Laurie M. Johnson, MS, RHIA, FAHIMA Laurie M. Johnson is a senior consultant at Revenue Cycle Solutions, LLC, a revenue cycle consulting firm specializing in revenue cycle assessments and work plan implementation; interim management with focus on process improvement; and revenue cycle education for hospitals and physician practices. Laurie is a past president of PHIMA and author of clinical coding articles for Journal of AHIMA and ICD-10 Monitor.

Lisa Eramo, MA Lisa A. Eramo is a journalist who has written about HIM for more than a decade. “I enjoy writing about healthcare—and specifically HIM—because it touches everyone. Accurate health information is critical to ensuring positive outcomes and addressing disparities. I strive to highlight HIM professionals who are passionate about telling the patient’s story. My mission is also to shine a light on the important work of HIM, the challenges HIM professionals face, and the opportunities created by thoughtful and innovative HIM professionals nationwide.” Lisa studied creative writing at Hamilton College and obtained a master’s degree in

Kelly McLendon, RHIA, CHPS Kelly is a well-known consultant and industry expert in patient privacy and security, with specific subject matter expertise in the areas of artificial intelligence, privacy incident, detection and automation. He is also an industry expert in legal health records, HIM operations, electronic document management, and EHR project planning. He is a frequent industry speaker and authored a book for AHIMA titled The Legal Health Record: Regulations, Policies and Guidelines. Kelly received the AHIMA Triumph Award in Innovation in 2015, the FHIMA Distinguished Member Award in 2008, and the AHIMA Visionary Award in 2003.

Nirmala Sivakumar, CCS, CDIP Nirmala Sivakumar is an IRF Coding Educator based in PA. She has created and presented many webinars and workshops on IRF coding and improving clinical documentation. She has trained and mentored many rehab coders. She also has experience in conducting coding audits. She enjoys sharing her expertise and knowledge and has a desire to help coders and PPS Coordinators overcome the challenges of IRF PPS coding. She has held previous positions as Health Information Management Supervisor for one of HealthSouth’s (Encompass) acute inpatient rehab hospital and as a HIM Coding Consultant at Uniform Data

Kim Huey, MJ, CHC, CPC-M, CPC, CCS-P, PCS, CPCO, COC As owner of KGG Coding and Reimbursement Consulting, LLC, Kim Huey is an independent coding and reimbursement consultant, providing audit, training and oversight of coding and reimbursement functions for physicians. Kim completed three years of pre-medical education at the University of Alabama before she decided that she preferred the business side of medicine. She completed a Bachelor’s degree in Health Care Management and went on to obtain certification through AAPC and AHIMA. Recognizing the important position of compliance in today’s environment, she has obtained certification as

David Zielske, MD, CIRCC, COC, CCVTC, CCC, CCS, RCC David Zielske is the founder and President of ZHealth Publishing and the primary author and editor of each ZHealth publication. Dr. Z practiced as an interventional radiologist for fourteen years and has over twenty years experience as a coding reviewer and coding expert. He is Board Certified in Radiology with the Certification of Added Qualification in Interventional Radiology (1995, 2005). Dr. Z has functioned as an independent interventional radiology, vascular surgery, and cardiovascular coding consultant to a variety of physician groups and hospital providers across the country, and he has

Gail I. Smith, MA, RHIA, CCS-P Gail Smith is a nationally recognized educator, thought leader in use of Artificial Intelligence in workforce training, and advocate for the advancement of health information management (HIM) professionals. A strong believer that ‘coders learn by coding,’ Gail has worked with Libman Education as a course author since 2013 and has written both instructional materials organized by body system (breast, spinal fusion, and others) and hands-on Practical Coding Experiences designed to increase both quality of coding and productivity. Gail was an associate professor and director of the HIM program at the University of

Lynn Kuehn, MS, RHIA, CCS-P, FAHIMA Lynn Kuehn is president of Kuehn Consulting, LLC, and a nationally recognized authority on ICD-10-PCS coding. Lynn was elected to the AHIMA Board of Directors, served as faculty for the original ICD-10 “Train-the-Trainers” program, and authored or co-authored several of AHIMA’s most popular books including ICD-10-PCS: An Applied Approach, recognized as the “go-to” resource for learning and mastering ICD-10-PCS. As a Subject Matter Expert with Libman Education, Lynn’s unique and engaging teaching methods as well as her leadership on the importance of accuracy and efficiency in coding is recognized by clients and

Susan Pepple, President, Libman Education Susan Pepple has over 20 years’ HIM experience. As co-founder of Libman Education, Susan has been a driving force in the company's growth and expansion. Committed to professional development for HIM and RCM professionals, Libman Education provides training and other resources for individuals and teams to address the requirements of their current position while gaining new skills necessary for career advancement.  Working with a team of nationally recognized subject matter experts, both within Libman Education and with additional carefully selected partners, Susan leads the company’s response to the healthcare industry’s demand for comprehensive

Rose T. Dunn, MBA, RHIA, CPA, FACHE, FHFMA Rose T. Dunn, MBA, RHIA, CPA, FACHE, FHFMA, FAHIMA, is a past president and former interim CEO of AHIMA and recipient of AHIMA’s distinguished member and legacy awards. She is Chief Operating Officer of First Class Solutions, Inc.sm, a healthcare consulting firm based in St. Louis, MO. First Class Solutions, Inc. assists healthcare acute and long term organizations enhance or transform their HIM and revenue cycle operations, evaluates facility and physician office documentation, and provides coding audits and support. Rose also is the author of Libman Education’s suite of online

Faye Kelly, RHIT, CCS Faye Kelly is a broadly experienced HIM professional and trainer. Having worked in a hospital setting for over 30 years including as an HIM Director with oversight of Coding and CDI, Faye now applies her extensive knowledge of the HIM function to write, develop and lead focused training for coders, CDI professionals, physicians, and nurses on outpatient and inpatient coding; case mix index; reimbursement systems including DRGs, MS-DRGs, and APR-DRGs; and coding credential preparatory courses for the CCA and CPC. Faye is a reviewer and author for several Libman Education courses and provides

Barry Libman, MS Barry is the founder of Libman Education, a leading provider of training for the health care workforce, as well as Barry Libman Inc., a company that provides coding, audit, and educational services to the HIM departments of healthcare institutions. Prior to forming these organizations, he held a number of positions in the health information management field, working for hospitals, insurers, consulting firms, and regulatory bodies. Courses available by Barry Libman: