Projects and Accomplishments
South Dakota Division of Long Term Services and Supports (SD LTSS)

Strategic EHR Implementation and Longitudinal Fiscal Governance for SD LTSS
2018 - Present

In 2018, the South Dakota Division of Long Term Services and Supports (SD LTSS) faced a critical operational need to transition from fragmented legacy processes to a unified Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. The agency required a robust solution to manage the full lifecycle of person-centered care, including demographics, clinical assessments, authorizations, and complex billing. Tasked with leading this digital transformation as both a Business and Data Analyst, I worked closely with state stakeholders to analyze high-stakes data and translate their requirements into a scalable technical architecture. My primary goal was to ensure a secure, end-to-end ingestion of critical state data—encompassing agencies, funding sources, and service catalogs—while maintaining absolute data integrity.

During the initial implementation, I architected a foundational Authorization Process that proved so effective in its simplicity and functionality that it was later adopted as a generic product standard for our wider client base. I spearheaded the integration of a comprehensive billing module, effectively closing the loop from initial person intake and service delivery documentation to final MMIS reimbursement. Serving as the QA Lead for this full-scale implementation, I orchestrated cross-functional technical teams to ensure the project met rigorous state standards and was delivered on schedule. This established a resilient ecosystem that provided the state with a complete, transparent picture of their clinical and fiscal operations.

The partnership evolved further in 2022-2023 when I led the planning and design of the Plan Pre-Authorization integration. This initiative sought to embed authorization triggers directly within the person-centered planning process without hampering existing billing cycles. I engineered a comprehensive transition plan that bridged the gap between legacy and modernized workflows, which the state adopted as their new standard for staff training and operational processes. By managing the Release Management and User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for this phase, I facilitated a seamless transition that enhanced clinical documentation accuracy while protecting the state's revenue cycle from disruption.

Beyond system enhancements, I have provided consistent Fiscal Governance for SD LTSS since 2019, managing the complexities of annual MMIS and state-fund rate changes. Recognizing that these fiscal shifts are never uniform, I leveraged my deep institutional knowledge of South Dakota’s business rules to design a standardized migration flow. This framework was built to accommodate the unique variations of each fiscal year, ensuring that rate migrations—often high-risk events—became predictable, low-volatility operations. Through meticulous Reporting Management and proactive Risk Management, I have ensured that SD LTSS maintains 100% billing accuracy and regulatory compliance year after year, regardless of the complexity of the underlying fiscal policy shifts.