Meet Our Team
Our experts will help you
ACE consultants have been authorities on anesthesia billing, coding, documentation, compliance, and reimbursement issues in the field of anesthesia for more than 20 years. Our consultants share their expertise, provide the latest information, and develop education for personnel working within this specialty.
Below you will find a brief bio for each of our core coding staff and consultants. For additional information about ACE, visit the About Us page.
Our Team Members
Kayla Lee
President of Services
Kayla Lee, CPC, joined the ACE team in 2014, where she was mentored by ACE’s founder, former president and nationally known expert in anesthesia and pain management Devona Slater, prior to her retirement.Kayla holds a Certified Professional Coding (CPC) certification. While working at ACE she has been instrumental in cultivating the ACE coding division that provides a coding service, producing more than 50,000 cases a month for groups across the country.
Prior to joining ACE, she worked as a Certified Pharmacy Technician after graduating from Kansas State University. Kayla is very passionate about the anesthesia industry and believes that education for coders and providers is foundational for creating the best coding service.
Deena Gauthier
Lead Coding Educator & Compliance Auditor
When Deena Gauthier, CPC, CDEO, CANPC, CGSC, was a young girl she wanted to be a nurse, a teacher, or a truck driver when she grew up. Her inability to stay upright at the sight of blood and her struggles to navigate even a compact car in reverse made teaching a natural choice. A graduate of University of Maine at Farmington (UMF) with a degree in elementary education, Deena taught for several years in Maine and Massachusetts. She taught everything from pre-K to adult education, but never high school. Years of budget cuts and position changes prompted a career change.Deena’s love of math (yes, we exist...can you believe there is a whole language of numbers?), computers, and anatomy led her to look into a career in medical coding. Deena has been coding professionally as well as teaching coding for more than 10 years. Her certifications include Certified Professional Coding (CPC), Certified Documentation Expert Outpatient (CDEO), Certified General Surgery Coder (CGSC), and Certified Anesthesia and Pain Management Coder (CANPC)™.
Deena is very passionate about any opportunity to talk about coding topics that come her way. Even though you are not likely to hear any child say they want to grow up to be a medical coder, Deena is grateful the profession found her.
Lynette Peterson
Compliance Auditor & Technology Specialist
Lynette Peterson, CHC, CHA, SCP, is a business management veteran with expertise in process modeling and business quality principles. She has over 20 years of diverse management experience at the director level in a Fortune 500 company facilitating change in a variety of business environments, including integrating quality improvement concepts into business operations. Lynette is now applying her expertise to the healthcare industry specializing in anesthesia.Lynette began consulting for ACE in 2008. She is our resident expert on process documentation and analysis and has been the lead on several special projects regarding anesthesia reimbursement and billing processes. Her certifications include Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC) from the Health Care Compliance Association, Certified Healthcare Auditor (CHA) from the American Institute of Healthcare Compliance, and Specialty Coding Professional (SCP) for Anesthesia from the Board of Medical Specialty.
Amelia Dinh
Vice President/Coding Manager
Amelia Dinh, CPC, obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Saint Mary's College and served in various roles in quality assurance and research and development in the biochemical industry prior to joining the ACE team in 2016.Amelia has since obtained her Certified Professional Coder's license and established herself as a technical and operations specialist under the tutelage of Devona Slater, ACE's nationally renowned founder. Her primary focus has been standardizing and streamlining ACE's coding operations.
Amelia was instrumental in deploying ACE's coding workflow management system that coordinates ACE's efforts to complete more than 50,000 cases per month for groups across the country. Amelia is very passionate about the anesthesia industry and believes that clearly defined expectations and standard ways of working are the keys to delivering best-in-class coding services.
Michelle Ognag
Compliance Auditor
Michelle Ognag, RHIT, CCS-P, is a seasoned professional in the dynamic field of medical coding. With a childhood dream of becoming a veterinarian, Michelle's journey led her to the intricate world of healthcare documentation and coding. In 2015, Michelle joined the ACE team, bringing with her a decade of experience as a production anesthesia coder. As a Registered Health Information Technician and a Certified Coding Specialist - Physician-based, Michelle is dedicated to meticulously assigning medical codes, viewing it as a detective's work in piecing together crucial information to ensure accuracy. Surrounded by a team of exceptional coders and auditors at ACE, Michelle considers herself fortunate to have learned from their extensive experience, using it to help expand her career into auditing for compliance. She is passionate about passing on her knowledge to others and contributing to the growth and development of others in the field. Beyond her professional endeavors, Michelle recently relocated to Florida, where she enjoys embracing the warmth and spending time near water – poolside or at the beach. While fall was once her favorite season, the Florida sun has shifted her preference to the hot embrace of the southern climate.
You can be an ACE, too!
Interested in joining our Consulting Team?
An ACE Consultant must have at least 10 years of relevant experience, be a certified coder (or possess an equivalent certification), be willing to travel, and be considered an “expert” in the field of anesthesia compliance.