William Fiala

Title: Professor of Practice
Dept/Program: Allied Health: Healthcare Administration
Office: Polsky 266D
Phone: 330-972-8451
Email: wcfiala@uakron.edu

Biography

Mr. Fiala is the coding and medical insurance instructor for the Allied Health Department at the University of Akron. Beyond the University setting, his business organization, Fiala Analytical Services, Inc., incorporated in 1992 as a fee schedule calculation service, serves dozens of physicians on a monthly basis in addition to project related work throughout the year. A fair amount of project work involves coding audits and compliance issues. Auditing work includes practices as part of their routine OIG compliance programs, practices and legal counsel in response to adversarial audits, accounting firms auditing health and welfare or VEBA plans, and, on occasion, an insurance carrier in dispute with a practice. Mr. Fiala has been contracted to provide coding and billing instruction to residencies, private practices, and an insurance company. He is one of a few practice management service professionals who actually have over a dozen years of experience as an administrator in medical practices. In addition to this experience, his educational background includes a baccalaureate degree (BS) in finance and a graduate degree (MA) with a concentration in business and economic history. In 1999, he became certified by the AHIMA as a coding specialist (CCS-P). IN 2011, he became an AHIMA-approved ICD-10-CM trainer. In order to better address coverage issues for clients, and as a function of teaching the medical insurance class, he holds an Ohio insurance license for health, life, and variable products. Mr. Fiala also has experience in mediation and has successfully represented doctors in an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process governed by an American Arbitration Association neutral. He has been a member of eight professional and community organizations and a board member for four of them.

Publications

He has published locally and nationally including “Billing Basics: A Review Course,” appearing in the December 2000 issue of the MGM Journal (copy available from the article archives at http://www.mgma.com/research) and “Electronic Medical Records: The First Decision” appearing in the Summit County Medical Society Bulletin.