Ann Arbor, MI — October 26, 2006 — Diane Nixon, manager of the U-M School of Dentistry's Clinic Billing Office, has been elected to a one-year term as national secretary-treasurer of the American Business Women's Association (ABWA).

In her role, she will coordinate official correspondence and records of the board, notify members of annual meetings, and speak at ABWA national and regional spring conferences and council events nationwide. She now is a member of organization's National Board of Directors, a group of nine individuals that functions as the governing body for the association's 45,000 members. As a member of the board, she will also serve as a trustee of the Stephen Bufton Memorial Education Fund which, since its inception, has awarded more than $14 million in scholarships to women.

An ABWA member for 21 years, Nixon was elected to a one-year term as District V regional vice president of the group last December. She has also served as chapter president, vice president, and secretary-treasurer, as well as chair of ABWA's Eastern Michigan council, which comprises 16 chapters. In 2005, she was named the Council's Woman of the Year.

"The leadership, team building, and networking skills I have developed in ABWA have directly helped me in my health care career and my current position at the School of Dentistry," she said.

As manager of the School's CBO, Nixon is in charge of an office of 18 that is responsible for dental care reimbursement from both insurance companies and patients.

Each month her office receives approximately 750 incoming calls weekly from patients with billing questions and makes 1,000 outgoing collection calls. The office also electronically files more than 350 dental and medical claims with insurance companies daily and follows up on about 400 inquiries and 800 rejections each month from insurance companies. Each month, her office mails more than 17,000 statements to patients.

The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation's leading dental schools engaged in oral health care education, research, patient care, and community service. General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the School to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan. Classroom and clinic instruction prepare future dentists, dental specialists, and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia, and public agencies. Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide. For more information about the School of Dentistry, visit the Web at: www.dent.umich.edu.

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