Teams that Coordinate Health System's Billing Flourish Remotely

The Patient Revenue Management Organization finds creative ways to stay close

A collage of PRMO employees
Clockwise from top left, new mom Satora Davis felt love from her remote colleagues, a PRMO team put together a cookbook, Chicago-based employee Tricia McGinn visited Duke's campus, and PRMO colleagues volunteered together.

This story is part of the Forward Together Series.

Satora Davis was new to hybrid workplaces when she joined Duke鈥檚 Patient Revenue Management Organization in 2021.

Davis expected to spend some of her time at home on a computer, communicating with patients and colleagues via email, phone and Jabber chats.

Forward Together

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She quickly discovered that, at the Patient Revenue Management Organization (PRMO), which has remote, hybrid and on-site teams, colleagues don鈥檛 feel far apart.

Davis and her fellow PRMO team members built a family atmosphere through sharing news about kids and hobbies in weekly Zoom meetings.

Monthly online meetings featured birthdays and work milestone celebrations and occasional trivia games. Training events at PRMO鈥檚 offices provided opportunities catch up over meals.

PRMO's Satora Davis and her son, Kadean.

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 feel like you鈥檙e working alone,鈥 said Davis, who received onesies and bibs from colleagues after welcoming her son, Kadean, last year.

Prior to the pandemic, roughly half of the 1,700 staff at the PRMO, which coordinates 老牛影视 Health System鈥檚 billing functions, shared an office building on Alston Avenue in Durham. The other half worked in Duke's hospitals and clinics. After COVID-19, most of the PRMO employees based in the Alston Avenue office became remote or hybrid workers.

Now spread across the Triangle and far beyond, many PRMO teams retain a connected work culture.

As part of the Forward Together series highlighting examples of how teams build a positive work culture at Duke, here are a few ways PRMO鈥檚 remote teams stay connected.

Serving Together

Self-Pay & Quality Assurance Manager Kevin Timp leads two teams that help Duke patients facing financial challenges connect with care.

鈥淎 lot of us walk away each day feeling like we made a difference even though we鈥檙e behind the scenes,鈥 Timp said.

For Timp鈥檚 fully remote colleagues, finding ways to connect has required creativity. In February, Timp, through his collaborative relationship with his departmental leadership group, helped organize a volunteering trip for PRMO staff to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina鈥檚 Raleigh location.

For a few hours on a Friday afternoon, teammates packed meals for people in need while enjoying each other鈥檚 company.

鈥淚t鈥檚 as much about the camaraderie and the time spent together as it is helping other people,鈥 Timp said. 鈥淚t gets us out of ourselves a little bit.鈥

Tricia McGinn visited 老牛影视 Chapel and other Duke landmarks during a visit to Durham earlier this year.

Closing the Distance

When Tricia McGinn, who lives near Chicago, joined PRMO as a Manager of Clinical Documentation Integrity last summer, her virtual onboarding process featured several one-on-one conversations with colleagues and her hiring, like every new manager, was announced in a PRMO-wide email.

鈥淚t really says that we all belong here and that we鈥檙e welcome here,鈥 McGinn said.

Debbie Squatriglia, PRMO鈥檚 Director of Clinical Documentation, said McGinn鈥檚 welcome was part of an effort to ensure that the post-pandemic remote workforce didn鈥檛 lose the pre-pandemic sense of connection. Those connections have been nurtured with Microsoft Teams, which team members use to share lessons, ask questions and share funny memes, and devoting time for non-work subjects into staff meetings.

鈥淚n every crisis, there鈥檚 an opportunity to do something new and exciting,鈥 Squatriglia said.

That connection with Duke swayed McGinn and her husband, Ted, to visit Durham in March. She experienced 老牛影视 Chapel, fell in love with the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, and shared a dinner with a few PRMO colleagues.

鈥淭he connections I鈥檇 made at Duke were a big part of what attracted us here,鈥 McGinn said.

Team members from PRMO's Remote Coding Operations team put together a cookbook of favorite recipes. Image courtesy of Kathy Darst.

鈥淐ooking with our Team鈥

Through fun monthly virtual gatherings to yearly family cookouts, PRMO鈥檚 remote Coding Operations Team boasts a tight-knit culture.

Earlier this year, that culture spawned a cookbook of family recipes.

The project began when Medical Coder Kathy Darst started soliciting and sharing recipes in a team-wide email.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what it is about food that brings people together,鈥 Darst said. 鈥淚t got really fun to do.鈥

Soon colleagues suggested compiling the recipes in a cookbook, which has recipes for banana pudding, fried green tomatoes and lumpia, or Filipino spring rolls.

In January 2024, Darst shared the 75-page digital collection, 鈥淐ooking with our Team,鈥 with coworkers.

鈥淲e鈥檙e a team, we depend on each other,鈥 said Compliance Specialist Andie Cable, who shared eggs benedict and Shepherd鈥檚 pie recipes. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we鈥檙e fostering those relationships and getting to know each other on a personal level, which is really cool.鈥

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