Melissa Ouellette is a Data Encoding Operator within DIT’s Distributed Processing Operations.  She came to DIT from the Department of Community Health, where she had worked since 2000.  Prior to starting with the state, she temped in state offices with the Office of Chronic Disease, and she was also a prison guard in Nevada.  Melissa is also a mom to 5 kids, which is a full-time job by itself!

As a Data Encoding Operator, along with 11 other keyers, Melissa is responsible for entering data from a number of forms which include Medicaid, Child Foster Care, Adult Foster Care and WIC coupons.  The forms are scanned, and she is then able to bring the image up on her computer screen.  However, the OCR scans do not always read every piece of data on the form, so it is Melissa’s job to correct the unreadable data which is identified by a “flag”; these are set by the many edits that have been programmed into the Captiva system.  The actual image appears on her screen as well as what the scanner read.  She must then either key what the scanner read or if changed, key the same information twice, this verifies that the information is going out correctly.  She is also able to reject documents for a number of reasons, for example:  Wrong provider ID/Types, Unreadable image, Dates of service missing.   Data Coding Operators can request that the form be rescanned as KFI (Key from Image) in this case the entire form would be keyed then verified by another operator to insure accuracy.  So, for 8 hours a day, Melissa’s fingers fly across the keyboard, entering critical data that helps in the process of paying providers for their services.

Most of Melissa’s training for this work comes on-the-job, but she took keyboarding classes in high school and at Lansing Community College.  She said that data entry skills get better with practice.  Melissa says it is also important that an operator have the ability to work independently.  “I would not be a good supervisor!” Melissa joked.  Instead, she likes being able to come to work, know what’s ahead of her, and then just sitting down to do it.  Melissa also likes the job security and the people she works with.  She and her co-workers have a good time, listening to the radio while they enter data.

Like everyone, Melissa would change a few things about her job, too.  She said that occasionally, operators get sore necks and backs from sitting at computer workstations all day.  And right now, their area is short-staffed so the entry is about a month behind.  Because of this, operators cannot take annual leave, which has posed some scheduling problems for people with families and upcoming vacations.  Melissa thinks that adding more positions would help this problem; they lost 3 employees to early retirement but none of those spots has been filled.  Another problem is that because the data encoding workstations are not hooked into the Novell network, employees cannot check e-mail from their own workstations, and they instead have to share a couple of separate computers.  This slows down the flow of information and makes it a bit difficult for them to get announcements.  To remedy this, the Communications section is now going to try to ID Mail hard copies of important announcements.

Melissa’s work is much different than what many DIT employees do, but she enjoys it and she is a great addition to the team!

Do you know someone who should be featured on A Day in the Life?? E-mail Dana Graham at grahamd3@michigan.gov!