BMSC Committees

BMSC Exam Committee Members

AHCC’s Board of Medical Specialty Coding & Compliance (BMSC) Certification Committees maintain and update the BMSC Certification Programs, including the exams and annual recertification self-assessments. Click here to download the committee scope of work.

Elise Christensen

HCS-D, COS-C, Coding Manager, Hartford Healthcare

Elise Christensen has been an RN for approaching 34 years.  She has spent almost 20 years practicing in the newborn intensive care unit 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, marketing, coding, and senior leadership. 

For the last 11 years Elise has been involved full time in Coding and OASIS review, serving both as a front-line reviewer, educator/mentor, and Coding Director. Currently, Elise 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, Elise has held uninterrupted HCS-D and COS-C certifications for the past 9 years and is a member of both AHCC and AHIMA in good standing.

Elise’s passions are family, continuing education, mentoring, leadership, team building.  She also enjoys hiking, gardening, writing, and boating with her husband, children, grandchildren, or pups.

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Christina Crumbley

RN, MSN, HCS-D, CEO/Owner, Tidal Healthcare Consulting

Christina Crumbley is the CEO/Owner at Tidal Healthcare Consulting. Christina has 29 years of broad-based experience in home health operations, quality assurance/performance improvement, clinical management, finance and business development, with 25 of those years holding leadership positions. She has provided consulting services through her company Tidal Healthcare Consulting, LLC focusing on home health operational and clinical management, ICD-10 coding and OASIS review, as well as a large focus on education. She co-authored a book titled “Becoming a Super Woman: Leadership for Women” and provides women’s leadership training under her brand Commander in Heels.

J'non Griffin

RN, MHA, HCS-D, HCS-H, HCS-C, COS-C, Director, SimiTree Healthcare Consulting

J’non Griffin is a 32-year veteran of home care as an RN. She received her Master’s Degree in Health Care Administration in 2005. She has experience as a field nurse, director and executive with home health and hospice agencies, both large and small. She has served as Director of Staff Development and Appeals for home health and hospice agencies. She has taken part in mock surveys for agencies, and prepared agencies for accreditation. She has been directly involved in accreditation surveys, acquisitions and many regulatory crises with state survey agencies and the intermediary.

As Regional Director of Operations for a home care company, J’non was ultimately responsible for the operations of several branch agencies. She completed billing audits, supervised personnel, handled employment issues and trained managers. Part of her responsibilities have included risk management, acting as Compliance Officer, development of policies and forms, survey compliance, appeals of Medicare denials, writing Corrective Action Plans, start-ups of parent and branch agencies, consulting with agencies on a variety of subjects and education of staff.

J’non is certified as a Homecare Coding Specialist-Diagnosis (HCS-D), certified in OASIS competency (COS-C), Homecare Coding Specialist-Hospice (HCS-H), Home Care Specialist-Compliance (HCS-C) and is an AHIMA approved ICD-10-CM trainer/ambassador. J’non is an accredited ACHC and CHAP consultant. J’non is also on the board of Home Care Directions, and is a frequent contributor and expert on HcPro’s Ask an Expert Panel. She has also been a frequent contributor to the Decision Health Publication Diagnosis Coding Pro, published several manuals, and assisted with composition of several online modules for coding and OASIS instruction. She has presented several webinars, and has been a nationally recognized speaker on a variety of subjects.

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Michelle Horner 

BSN, RN, HCS-O, HCS-D, HCS-H, COS-C, Manager of Post-Acute Education with McBee

Julie Howard

HCS-D, HCS-O, Team Lead, McBee

Julie Howard has nearly 15 years of experience in the home health care industry. She brings a wide breadth of knowledge starting in support and administrative roles in a local home health agency. From there, she moved into coding and OASIS review with local agencies and outsource providers. Julie has been an AHCC member and credential holder for 13 years. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Behavioral Health and is currently a Team Lead with McBee.

Susan Jirsa

BSN, RN, COS-C, HCS-D, Divisional Director Quality Assurance, Aveanna

Susan Jirsa is a registered nurse whose background in home health began in 2009. She has held both clinical and operational leadership positions since 2010, and currently, she is the Divisional Director of Quality Assurance for Aveanna Healthcare’s Home Health and Hospice Division. Susan has a passion for quality and believes in the power of education.  Her training experiences are diverse, and include leading live webinar panel discussions, providing OASIS and coding educational materials to both clinicians and staff, and delivering provider updates regarding COVID-19 regulatory changes. She was integral in preparing her organization for the adjustments in PDGM and was invited to speak at a national EMR conference on the topic of the impact of PDGM on home health coding.

She lives in MN with her husband and her two felines.

Shanna Carter Kennon

RN, BSN, HSD-O, HCS-D, Coding and OASIS Reviewer, SMART Healthcare Compliance Resources

Shanna Carter Kennon is a Bachelor's prepared Registered Nurse with over 15 years of experience. Shanna has spent the last 13 years in home health. She is currently working remotely as a full time Coding and OASIS Reviewer for SMART Healthcare Compliance Resources.

The mother of 3 active boys, Shanna is often found cheering at a baseball field or working on the family farm in West Tennessee, where they raise beef cattle.

Jennifer Osburn 

RN, HCS-D, COS-C, Clinical Consultant, Healthcare Provider Solutions

Jennifer Osburn is a Clinical Consultant with Healthcare Provider Solutions, Inc. (HPS). With over 30 years of home health experience, Jennifer brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise which includes education and training, agency management, quality, clinical case management, and software technology. She is also a credentialed OASIS and ICD-10 Coding expert.

Jennifer began her home health career in a large privately owned agency after transitioning from Medical-Surgical Urology hospital nursing; however, she has worked for all types of agencies in multiple states. Her love for sharing knowledge and experience led her to clinical consulting, where she enjoys translating technical guidance into information that the busy home health professional can deploy to improve the efficiency and quality of care being delivered to the patients they serve. 

Jennifer Osburn has led numerous home health educational seminars for state and national associations as well as specifically designed education training plans for agencies for the past 12 years. In addition to consulting across the US, she has trained staff for The Joint Commission and ACHC, has authored numerous industry blogs and articles, and has assisted home health software companies with solutions that ensure compliance with Medicare guidelines. Her areas of expertise and firsthand experience include OASIS, ICD-10-CM Coding, Case Management, Medicare Home Health Conditions of Participation, Billing Requirements, Documentation Compliance for Quality and Payment, Emergency Preparedness, Agency Operations, and PDGM.

Celeste Miller

RN, BS, HCS-D, COS-C, Director of Operations, Oracle

Celeste has a passion for learning and education, especially in coding and OASIS.  She’s been certified with both for many years. She currently oversees and trains all the coders within the agency she works for.  

Celeste is an innovative leader whose goal is to improve the industry of home health and hospice through education and involvement. Celeste provides education/in-services related to OASIS, ICD-10 coding, skilled need, rules and regulations, conditions of participation, ADRs and QAPI.

Key achievements for her current role include:

• Creating and implementing the QAPI program among all offices within Signature Healthcare at Home and Hospice a provider of home health, hospice, and home care within 4 states.
• Implementation of mock surveys agency wide for survey preparedness.
• Creating informational sheets and education for providers to assist in proper ICD-10 code selection allowed within PDGM.
• Recent state surveys deficiency free.
• Companywide training on PDGM preparedness throughout 2019.

Leaders working directly with Celeste describe her as a top expert in her field, motivated, responsible, great trainer, reliable, thorough, concise, dedicated, self-motivated, quality driven, effective multitasker, detail oriented, kind, supportive, and always willing to help.

Sherry Jean Samia

BSN, RN, HCS-D, HCS-O, Regional Director of Clinical Services for Home Health, Brookdale Senior Living (Home Health)

Sherry Jean Samia is a nurse with extensive experience in leading home health quality improvement programs and initiatives. She currently works as a Regional Director of Quality Services for Brookdale Healthcare Services. Before starting her journey with long term care and home health; Sherry practiced as a physician in the Philippines and specialized in Pediatrics.   With her medical background, Sherry has intimate knowledge of disease processes and utilizes this to her advantage when tackling nursing projects. When she’s not traveling for work, Sherry enjoys the local scenery and dining options of Austin, TX with her family.

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Pamela Wandrie

M.A.CCC-SLP, HCS-D, HCS-O, Coding and OASIS QA Specialist, SimiTree

Pamela Wandrie is a Coding & OASIS QA Specialist at SimiTree. She has over 29 years of experience in home health care, 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.

Ashley Cunningham-Baker

MSN, RN, HCS-D, HCS-H, COS-C, Regional Vice President of Quality and Compliance, Aegis Health Care

Ashley has worked in the health care industry for 22 years. She started her journey as a C.N.A in skilled nursing and worked her way up to Registered Nurse. She has been in the Home Health and Hospice Industry for 11 years, holding many positions in Home Health and Hospice as a case manager, director and in quality assurance. She found her passion in regulatory guidance and education and has been in this type of role for 10 years.

Ashley has extensive experience in home health and hospice coding, quality reviews and performance improvement. Currently she is Regional Vice President of Quality and Compliance, overseeing multiple agencies nationwide along with an all-encompassing consulting company that serves agencies across the U.S. She enjoys quality assurance performance improvement and helping agencies identify areas of concern and assisting in improvement measures. She routinely provides education on all aspects of home health and hospice, staying up to date with new guidance and best practices.

Ashley has been married for 19 years and is a proud mom of two amazing kids, ages 8 and 10. Her family enjoys life in southeastern Idaho where they take advantage of the beautiful outdoors by camping, gardening, hiking, and anything that gets them outside.

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Nanette Minton

RN, HCS-D, HCS-H, HCS-O, Senior Clinical Coding Manager, MAC Legacy 

Serving in a leadership capacity for over 20 years, Nanette has held a variety of roles in the home care and hospice industry including clinical, administrative, consulting, education, and agency startup & development. She currently holds the position of Senior Clinical Coding Manager for MAC Legacy. Nanette 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. Nanette’s experience in the industry gives her a unique perspective and allows her to provide coding and audit knowledge firsthand to clients.

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Claudia Baker

RN, MHA, HCS-D, HCS-O, Senior Manager, SimiTree​

Claudia Baker is a senior home care executive with successful experience in the areas of compliance, quality improvement, operations, and technology. She has extensive experience with consulting and education for home health, hospice and home care agencies, specifically related to workflow improvement. Claudia currently serves as a Senior Manager for SimiTree Healthcare Consulting. 30 of her 38 years in healthcare have centered around home-based services, including technology experience in the development of clinical software applications. She serves as a Board member for the Association of Home Care Coding and Compliance and has authored books related to the OASIS assessment for home health. She holds a Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration and has certifications in both diagnosis coding and OASIS.

 

Donna Bohannon Buckley

BSN, RN, HCS-D, HCS-O, Quality Manager with McBee Associates, Inc

Donna Buckley is a seasoned clinical consultant with McBee Associates, Inc., specializing in home health care coding and OASIS review. She brings 35 years of nursing experience in hospital and home health settings to the firm. She offers extensive knowledge and expertise in OASIS and ICD-10 Coding for home health. She also offers an in-depth understanding of Medicare and Medicaid regulations, federal and state regulatory requirements, OASIS integrity, quality improvement, disaster preparedness and HIPAA compliance.

As a Manager with McBee Associates, Donna provides remote clinical OASIS and coding recommendations to clients. She has developed and led client and clinician education sessions to improve OASIS outcomes and accuracy. She prepares and leads monthly status reporting to multiple clients.

Donna’s depth of experience gives her a superior understanding of the financial issues and responsibilities of home health care. Her nursing background and home health leadership experience have taught her to effectively manage patient care, monitor compliance, develop field staff and improve agency outcomes.

In the home health industry, Donna  has provided direct patient care, case management, and has held multiple leadership positions. As a clinical supervisor and promotion to Quality Management Director, she has directed multi-disciplinary teams and has led multiple branches in quality assurance and performance improvement. As a Clinical Director, Donna mentored her agency to “survey ready” status, improved employee satisfaction through implementation of new software and reduced unbilled episodes. She offers extensive knowledge of clinical operations and home health care documentation regulations.

Elise Christensen

HCS-D, COS-C, Coding Manager, Hartford Healthcare

Elise Christensen has been an RN for approaching 34 years.  She has spent almost 20 years practicing in the newborn intensive care unit 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, marketing, coding, and senior leadership. 

For the last 11 years Elise has been involved full time in Coding and OASIS review, serving both as a front-line reviewer, educator/mentor, and Coding Director. Currently, Elise 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, Elise has held uninterrupted HCS-D and COS-C certifications for the past 9 years and is a member of both AHCC and AHIMA in good standing.

Elise’s passions are family, continuing education, mentoring, leadership, team building.  She also enjoys hiking, gardening, writing, and boating with her husband, children, grandchildren, or pups.

Sue Hayden 

RN HCS-D HCS-O, Education Manager, HomeCare Answers

Sue Hayden brings over 31 years of healthcare experience to her role. Her nursing career began on an inpatient oncology unit, but after several years, she found her niche in home health care. In 2001, she was asked to join her firm’s clinical review department, and as Sue puts it, “It was love at first code.”

Throughout her career, Sue has held multiple roles in quality assurance and leadership including staff development, performance improvement, and manager of clinical documentation. Sue has extensive experience in coding and OASIS and loves sharing her expertise and home care knowledge. Her biggest passion is education, and she enjoys the creative challenges of developing and presenting training materials to suit her audience’s needs.

She has authored and delivered many presentations on multiple home health topics including addressing the Delaware Home Care Association, and more recently, hosted a series of podcasts on home health value-based purchasing. In her current role, Sue provides coder education and is also responsible for developing and presenting trainings to agencies and clinicians based on their unique educational needs.

Sue lives at the Jersey shore in a small town on an island with her spouse and nineteen-year-old rescue cat. She loves to cook, fish, and write, and can usually be found cheering on the local sports teams.

Lisa McClammy

BSN, RN, COS-C, HCS-D, HCS-O, Senior Clinical Education Consultant, MAC Legacy

Lisa McClammy has more than 24 years of diverse nursing experience. Her experience includes Director of Customer Success for a Home Health Software Company and Director of Patient Care and Alternate Administrator for a home health agency, which gives her a unique perspective and understanding of the challenges home care agencies face. Her clinical and consulting experience in the home care industry is the foundation for a variety of education topics presented to agencies, state associations, webinars, and workshops.  

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Christine Mickel

PTA, HCS-D, HCS-O, HCS-H, OASIS and Coding Team Leader, McBee Associates

Christine Mickel is a licensed Physical Therapist Assistant with more than 10 years of healthcare experience.  For the last 5 years Christine has worked remotely coding and reviewing OASIS for numerous home health and hospice agencies.  Christine is currently a Coding and OASIS Team Leader with McBee Associates mentoring, training, and completing quality reviews for HCS-D, HCS-O, and HCS-H certified chart reviewers.

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Sherri Parson

RN, HCS-D, HCS-O, HCS-H, COS-C, Chief Compliance Officer/Director of Operations, Infusion Health

Sherri brings more than 27 years of healthcare experience to her role as Chief Compliance Officer/Director of Operations at Infusion Health.

She has been an in-home provider of skilled-nursing services as well as developing expertise in quality assurance, diagnosis coding, OASIS review and regulatory compliance. Sherri further developed her home health expertise as a therapy manager, staff educator, quality metric analysis and development expert.

Her vast experience in home health has prepared her for her current role where she is responsible for staff development and compliance. Sherri travels and presents to state home care association meetings, national events, and on-site trainings. Other accomplishments include adjunct professor and developer of a college Home Health Coding Course. She has authored numerous articles and is frequently sought after for her expertise by publications such as Home Health Line, Diagnosis Coding Pro, AAPC Home Care Weekly, and OASIS Outcome Solutions. In addition to these publications, she is one of the technical editors for the Home Care Clinical Specialist-Hospice (HCS-H) Certification Study Guide, 2023, Home Care Coding Specialist-Diagnosis (HCS-D) Certification Study Guide, 2023, Home Health ICD-10-CM Coding Answers, 2023, and Home Health ICD-10-CM Coding Companion, 2023. Sherri currently serves on the AHCC’s Board of Medical Specialty Coding and Compliance HCS-H and HCS-O Exam Committees.

Jennifer Warfield

BSN, HCS-D, COS-C

As a well-known homecare coding and OASIS specialist with extensive nursing experience, Jennifer is an informational ally for hundreds of home health agencies across the country. Her passion for being an educational resource keeps her travelling to conduct training sessions and speaking engagements at numerous homecare conferences on important industry topics, including coding, OASIS and documentation.

Jennifer served as educational director at one of the leading home health software companies in the country for 17 years and certified as an official ICD-10 trainer. Jennifer received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Home Care Coding Specialist – Diagnosis certification from the Board of Medical Specialty Coding, and earned her Certificate for OASIS Specialist-Clinical from the OASIS Certificate & Competency Board. She is author of two coding guidebooks which include “Tips, Tricks & Tidbits for Home Health Professionals.”