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68 COMPETENCY-BASED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Situation: At Medical Facility Associates, the percentage of invoices

paid by carriers had decreased at an alarming rate.

Action: As a course of action was to determine the root cause of this

decrease. After a review of the records, it was evident that the billing coordi-
nators needed training on handling the carrier’s new policies. I called an emer-
gency meeting that focused on two priorities: educating the staff on the health
carrier’s new codes and showing them how they could navigate the maze re-
quired to receive payment for patient procedures.

Result: After the training, the billing coordinators resubmitted the in-

voices following the proper procedures, and the facility received payment with
no further hiccups.

Question 7. Describe an occasion when you made a decision that

could have had a negative impact on the company if not managed correctly.

Obstacle: Blue Cosmetics’ global popularity was at an all-time high.

Domestic sales were through the roof, but internationally we were losing
money, owing to badly negotiated business contracts overseas.

Action: Since we could not continue to conduct business worldwide at

a loss, I revisited the foreign currency agreements with our distributors, keep-
ing in mind the current rate of inflation. This was a tricky proposition, because
I had to convince the partners to accept new contract terms at a time when
the existing agreements were still in effect. I leveraged my personal relation-
ships to get each of the distributors, individually, to consent to the changes.

Result: The renegotiations ran smoothly, and I was able to secure

competitive contracts with our international business partners that met Blue
Cosmetics’ net and gross profit margins.

Question 8. Give an example of a time when you were surprised by an

unexpected situation and had to change course quickly.

Situation: In order to increase profits at the clinic, management

wanted to expand our clinical services to include residents with schizophre-
nia. No one on staff had experience treating schizophrenic patients. Staff
members approached me to represent the team and bring our concerns to
management.

Action: I summarized our concerns, and I provided a list of initiatives

we could implement to prepare the department for the new population. Our

American Management Association
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