athenista Spotlight: Meet Lisa Melanson
No wonder this athenista has been practicing her yoga: she works on the athenahealth® rules engine, one of the fastest-paced areas of athenahealth. Recently, she’s been creating new rules to help clients successfully (and effortlessly) participate in the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI). Meet Lisa Melanson, this month’s featured athenista.
athenaPulse: Tell us about your position at athenahealth.
Lisa Melanson: As a Rules and Format Associate I’m part of a team that maintains and updates the athenahealth® rules engine [the largest real-time database of payer rules and regulations in the industry for payers, procedures, diagnosis, and appointment types, updated constantly and shared by all clients]. It’s very challenging and fast-paced. We have tremendous flexibility to respond to payer changes and requests from our customers.
aP: What are you working on now?
LM: The Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) has been taking up a lot of my time for the last several months [see this month’s Pulse story]. It has been great to have the opportunity to work alongside our practices as we gain an understanding of the program and how to implement it. The way the measures are devised fits nicely into our current athenaNet functionality in terms of creating rules to support the program.
aP: What was the most challenging project you worked on at athenahealth?
LM: PQRI has been a fascinating challenge. It is really a move forward in the industry towards pay for performance. It will be very interesting to see how it develops from this point on. CMS seems to be making every effort to listen to industry feedback and encourage participation so that practices and billing organizations can become accustomed to and develop processes for successful reporting. Practices and billing organizations that participate this year may be in a better position to accommodate changes for next year’s program.
aP: If someone gave you a million dollars, how would you spend it?
LM: A villa in France.
aP: What was your first job?
LM: My first job was as a Mental Health Worker at McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA. It was a great way to get the perspective of being a provider. I also gained a great deal of confidence in dealing with emergency situations involving a team.
aP: Your favorite “athenahealth moment?”
LM: Any one of Jonathan Bush’s speeches. He always makes me laugh and always makes me think. His enthusiasm for his employees and the mission of the company is inspiring and impressive.
aP: Best vacation you ever took?
LM: The New Orleans Jazz Festival. It is an amazing way to experience the history of music in this country. There were so many talented performers telling their stories on stage and on street corners everywhere I went in the city.
aP: Favorite way to unwind after work?
LM: I have been practicing yoga for about 10 years. I rely on it to relax and reinvigorate after a long day. Each time I do it I feel I improve my practice in some way.
