Why Denial Prevention Requires Both Strategic and Micro-Targeted Layers with Christina Slemp | Podcast Shorts from ArceeHQ

In this clip

Christina Slemp describes UNC Health's denial prevention strategy as deliberately multi-dimensional: large strategic initiatives targeting the highest-dollar, highest-volume denial patterns on one track, and a six-week micro-targeting cadence on another. The micro-targeted work runs a 90-day look-back on specific carer codes by payer, flags any spikes, and sends a subject matter expert to root-cause each one before presenting solutions to a cross-functional executive committee that includes clinical, revenue cycle, and financial leaders. That committee structure is deliberate: it creates shared ownership so that every function has a vested interest in denial prevention outcomes, not just the revenue cycle team.

Key Takeaway

Effective denial prevention requires operating at two speeds at once: strategic multi-year initiatives for the biggest volume and dollar opportunity, and a tight six-week micro-targeting cadence at the physician and code level to root-cause emerging spikes before they compound into systemic losses.

“At face value, everyone wants denial prevention to happen, but when it starts to impact their day-to-day, a lot of people don’t always have the time.”
Christina Slemp, System Vice President of Revenue Cycle Financial Services, UNC Health

Claims Denial ManagementLeadership

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Christina Slemp

Season 2 · Episode 7 · 44 min

Rethinking Denials Management: AI-Driven Prediction, Sprint-Based Root Cause Resolution, and Trust as the Foundation of Revenue Cycle Change

Christina Slemp · System Vice President of Revenue Cycle Financial Services, UNC Health

Christina Slemp, System Vice President of Revenue Cycle Financial Services at UNC Health, brings a cross-systems perspective on claims denial management shaped by more than 25 years of leading revenue cycle operations across hospital systems, health plans, and payer contracting. She describes the multi-dimensional framework her teams use to approach denials, from six-week microtargeted sprint cycles with structured root cause analysis and cross-functional executive committee oversight, to the AI and RPA combination she considers best practice for automating appeals at scale. The conversation covers the organizational restructuring she guided at UNC Health, which consolidated professional and hospital billing under an enterprise AI and automation strategy, her view that predictive AI for anticipating payer behavior represents the next step beyond reactive denial management, and the emerging use of AI to analyze payer policy changes and quantify their financial impact before organizations fall behind. Christina closes with her perspective on the leadership behaviors that drive lasting change in revenue cycle, including why data alone does not move people and why trust is the only sustainable currency for change management.

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Claims Denial Management, powered by agentic AI

How ArceeHQ catches denials before they happen, resolves them automatically, and gives your reviewers only the cases that need a human.

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Reducing claim denials with agentic AI

A practical framework for revenue cycle leaders. Covers the operating model shift, what to measure, and where automation actually pays.

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Model the revenue impact of a first-pass rate improvement at your health system. Plug in your denial volume and payer mix.

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