Ashley Means was the recipient of a WorkCompCollege’s Faculty Grant to become a WRP student. She progressed quickly through the 64 courses and 51 hours of content, completing her first course on November 30, 2023. She passed the Final Exam on January 25, 2024. That is the definition of motivation, and on top of that a high achiever with an overall GPA of 90.66%!
Ashley was a groundbreaker in two ways. She is the first scholarship recipient to graduate with the WRP certification. She’s also the first student from a medical provider’s office. The WRP’s original premise was that new claims adjusters were often not receiving the breadth and depth of training to equip them for success. The scope of use has since expanded to encompass almost every stakeholder in the system, including now a work comp coordinator at UMC Physicians in Lubbock, Texas. In addition to the WRP, Ashley is close to graduating from Texas Tech as a CMA (certified medical assistant). She obviously fits the lifelong learner mindset that is key to WorkCompCollege.
I had the privilege of interviewing Ashley shortly after her WRP graduation.
Ashley began her career as medical coder / biller for a work comp insurance company. She then transitioned to her current role of overseeing this urgent care clinic’s treatment of injured employees. She ensures each patient gets needed treatment. As part of that process, she sends out necessary referrals, speaks to adjusters, obtains authorizations, makes sure the patient is attending their appointments, and submits medical bills then ensures those bills are being processed accordingly. She also educates the injured employee about the workers’ compensation process and answers any questions that may arise, including post-release. In other words, Ashley is key to helping each injured employee navigate a complicated system and receive the care they need to return to their job.
Ashley is unique in that she has been involved in workers’ compensation from both the payer and provider’s side. However, she felt the need for an even broader perspective and submitted the scholarship application.
The WRP curriculum “helped me see everybody’s viewpoints because not only am I working with the injured employee, but I’m also working with the adjuster and nurse case managers and lawyers along with the provider. Literally my job is working with everybody. I’m working with all sides of it. Learning all aspects of it, diving into the details and see why they do certain things, helps make my job a little bit easier.” What she learned will help her work more closely and effectively with the other stakeholders while representing the provider’s interests. The context she received enables her to answer their questions more effectively and persuasively.
The course work “was a lot. The videos made it seem more like one-on-one and easier to understand than just reading it. And if I had any questions, especially on the quizzes, I used the transcript quite a bit.” Each instructor’s unique personality and perspective, from a variety of disciplines and teaching styles, added to the richness of her experience. It wasn’t the same person every time and that variety helped keep it interesting.
It was gratifying to hear her talk about the daily application of what she learned and how seriously she took the process. “I have a spiral, 3-subject notebook full of notes. It’s pretty full. There is a lot of stuff in there that I can refer to in my day-to-day job.” She was so excited about her accomplishment that she printed out the diploma and immediately hung it on her wall at the office.
The program lived up to her aspirations as outlined in her application essay:
I have been in my role for a little over a year now and I know there is still so much more to learn. I believe this program can help me with the things I do need to learn, while also helping with my confidence when speaking to patients, adjusters, and employers about a workers’ compensation claim. I want to dig deeper into the terms, rules, and guidelines to help me be successful in my role. When someone comes to me with a question, I want to be confident in giving them an answer and I believe this program will help me. I respectfully ask to be considered for a scholarship so that I can increase my knowledge and confidence in my current role and help make an impact within the industry.
We are proud to have Ashley as part of our alumni and appreciate her allowing us to tell her story. She is an inspiration to everyone who wants to continually expand their mind and opportunities to achieve their maximum potential. Learning never ends!
Skip to content