Meet Our 2024 ESPRIT Award Winner: Habeebah Haqq

It’s widely understood that people with behavioral health needs are all too often underserved. “So to be part of a team that serves this population is extremely rewarding,” says Habeebah Haqq, Revenue Cycle Manager. “I try to make the clinicians’ lives easier with visit reconciliation and other back-end issues so they can focus on patient care.”

Habeebah makes it a point to troubleshoot billing issues on her end first and works hard to reduce the number of cases that clinicians have to review—allowing them to focus their time on patient care instead of administrative concerns. “I want to make sure VNS Health is actually getting reimbursed for the services we’re providing,” says Habeebah, who’s been with the VNS Health for 19 years. “I have a personal mission to make sure that the Behavioral Health team succeeds. With the challenging work they do, they need someone on the back end who’s friendly and easy to work with.”

Behavioral Health just moved to a new system (Netsmart), and Habeebah has been central to that transition. Her colleagues say that her journey with the Netsmart implementation perfectly demonstrates her unique blend of technical expertise and compassionate leadership. As she delved deeper into the Behavioral Health program, she went beyond simply deploying a new system. She held individual meetings and made sure each person felt heard and supported.

“She understood that technology could only facilitate change—it was the human touch that made it effective,” said her nominator. “Habeebah not only facilitated a smoother transition to the new system but also fostered a sense of collaboration and trust among the program members. Her dedication to understanding the intricacies of both the technology and the people using it ensured that the Netsmart system was not just a tool, but a catalyst for improving interdepartmental collaboration and streamlining administrative processes.”

While Habeebah works tirelessly, if you think you’ve seen her in two places at once it may not be your eyes deceiving you. She has an identical twin sister, Naseebah, who is part of our Business Development Intake team. “Sometimes to have a little fun we dress the exactly the same way, down to the detail of our pins, so that we can make people smile,” says Habeebah. Habeebah credits the support of her family, especially her mother and husband, for making it possible for her to succeed at her job. At work, she thanks Revenue Cycle Director Elizabeth Grajales and VP Felix Okhiria for “giving me space to grow.”

To go back to the overview of the 2024 VNS Health Award Winners, click here.