Lashanda Varner

Strategic Revenue Cycle Operations Leader with 10+ years of experience optimizing enterprise revenue cycle performance across behavioral health, telehealth, and multi-payer healthcare environments. Directs reimbursement strategy, denial prevention, claims lifecycle operations, and payer engagement that strengthen financial performance, improve reimbursement outcomes, and protect organizational revenue across complex revenue cycle functions. Leads cross-functional initiatives that eliminate revenue leakage, accelerate cash flow, improve claim quality, and strengthen financial sustainability through scalable operational improvements.

Experienced in driving client relationship management, strategic process improvements, and contract compliance to elevate revenue integrity across multiple sectors.

Claims Specialist - Grow Therapy - Remote

(2024-01)

• Direct revenue recovery strategy across a reimbursement portfolio generating $65K–$95K in monthly collections, executing payer resolution initiatives that strengthen cash flow and increase organizational revenue.
• Lead resolution of 60–80 complex payer denials daily, leveraging root cause analysis, strategic appeals, and reimbursement expertise that increase claim recoverability, minimize revenue leakage, and improve enterprise financial performance.
• Govern enterprise write-off operations for 100–200 claims daily, implementing rigorous claim validation standards that safeguard revenue integrity and reduce preventable financial loss.
• Spearhead reimbursement optimization across Commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid claims, validating claim accuracy, resolving billing barriers, and strengthening adjudication performance to improve reimbursement velocity and payer responsiveness.
• Champion cross-functional claim resolution initiatives with internal operational teams, standardizing issue escalation workflows that improved first-pass claim resolution, reduced processing delays, and strengthened enterprise revenue cycle efficiency.
• Deliver actionable reimbursement intelligence using denial trend analytics, recommending operational improvements that strengthened claims governance, reduced recurring denial patterns, and improved long-term reimbursement performance.

Medical Billing Specialist - Headspace Health - Remote

(2022-01 - 2024-12)

• Strengthened enterprise reimbursement performance across 180 claims weekly, evaluating billing accuracy, validating patient financial data, and optimizing claim quality that increased clean claim performance and reinforced regulatory compliance.
• Reduced recurring payer denials by identifying reimbursement vulnerabilities, collaborating with providers to resolve coding discrepancies and execute resubmission initiatives that improved reimbursement success and protected organizational revenue.
• Directed quality assurance for billing statements and diagnostic coding accuracy, reinforcing clean claim performance, minimizing preventable billing errors, and strengthening revenue integrity across assigned portfolios.
• Produced enterprise reimbursement analytics from biweekly unpaid claim reporting, equipping leadership with financial insights that improved operational decision-making, denial management strategy, and revenue cycle performance.
• Strengthened strategic payer relationships with commercial insurance organizations, accelerating complex claim resolution, improving reimbursement turnaround, and increasing operational effectiveness across revenue cycle operations.
• Led onboarding and professional development for 2 Medical Billing Specialists, establishing standardized operating procedures that elevated billing quality, reinforced payer compliance, and strengthened department-wide operational consistency.

Senior Specialist, Medical Coding and Billing - Brave Health - Remote

(2021-01 - 2022-12)

• Directed revenue integrity initiatives across 60 claims daily, applying advanced medical coding expertise, documentation validation, and regulatory compliance standards that strengthened clean claim performance, accelerated reimbursement readiness, and protected organizational revenue.
• Strengthened reimbursement outcomes by identifying billing vulnerabilities, standardizing coding quality controls, and resolving documentation gaps that reduced preventable claim risks and improved enterprise revenue cycle performance.
• Led complex denial resolution activities, collaborating with commercial and government payers to resolve reimbursement barriers, recover eligible revenue, and improve payment turnaround across assigned claim portfolios.
• Developed standardized operating procedures and payer reference guide for 4 junior specialists, elevating departmental productivity, strengthening compliance, and improving reimbursement accuracy.
• Championed workflow standardization across coding and billing operations, implementing process improvements that enhanced operational efficiency, reinforced regulatory compliance, and positioned the department for sustainable reimbursement performance.

Team Lead/Financial Counselor and Billing Specialist - Old Vineyard Behavioral Health - Winston-Salem

(2018-01 - 2020-12)

• Guided a multidisciplinary team of 3 Billing Specialists and Financial Counselors, establishing effective revenue cycle workflows that improved claim quality, departmental productivity, and reimbursement stability across daily operations.
• Accelerated enterprise revenue recovery by leading strategic accounts receivable initiatives that restored $950K+ in outstanding balances, strengthened organizational cash flow, and reduced financial exposure across aging accounts.
• Directed high-volume reimbursement operations exceeding 80 insurance claims daily, optimizing billing accuracy, claim validation, and workflow execution that surpassed productivity expectations and improved overall revenue cycle outcomes.
• Negotiated sustainable payment solutions for delinquent patient accounts, balancing financial recovery objectives with patient-centered service that increased account resolution opportunities and strengthened long-term collection performance.
• Strengthened payer collaboration across Commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid reimbursement programs, resolving complex adjudication issues, eliminating payment barriers, and improving reimbursement efficiency across multiple payer channels.

Financial Counselor - UNC Health Care

(2015-01 - 2017-12)

• Optimized front-end revenue cycle operations by validating insurance eligibility, benefits, and financial workflows to improve scheduled services, strengthening reimbursement readiness and reducing downstream billing exceptions.
• Directed financial assistance and Medicaid eligibility workflows, ensuring regulatory compliance, accelerating account qualification, and improving reimbursement opportunities for eligible patient populations.
• Resolved complex patient financial concerns using client management strategies, strengthening account resolution, improving patient satisfaction, and reinforcing organizational trust throughout the financial counseling process.
• Investigated disputed patient accounts, identifying billing discrepancies and coordinating timely resolution that reduced escalations and elevated the overall revenue cycle efficiency.
• Strengthened enterprise revenue cycle performance by maintaining accurate patient demographic, insurance, and financial information that improved clean claim quality, enhanced reimbursement accuracy, and reinforced operational excellence.

Associate of Science - Criminal Justice - Guilford Technical Community College (2026-12)