Article Archive for January 2014
The Benefits Don’t Stop
We, and many others, have constantly written about the benefits of electronic health records (EHRs) from the perspective of coding for fewer rejected claims, improved patient data sharing, and the financial benefits offered by the …
Slowing Down the Cash Cow
ICD-10 is no longer a foreign term to anyone in health care and now in information technology. It is a comprehensive, internationally used classification system designed to code for diseases and other healthcare conditions. It is scheduled …
A Real Emergency
A report from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) indicates that non-emergency ambulance services will be a major target of Medicare fraud investigations in the coming months. The report goes on to say that Medicare …
Who is Ready?
The results of a recent survey by DecisionHealth and the National Association of Home Care & Hospice suggest that home care agencies are grossly under-prepared and uninformed about the upcoming ICD-10 transition.
In the report “Survey: Home Care Agencies are FAR …
Monitoring Fraud in Speciality Centers
The Corporate Whistleblower Center released an announcement recently regarding Medicare fraud in dialysis centers. The article was basically inviting whistleblowers, and the response was overwhelming. More than half of the dialysis center insiders who called had substantial, well-documented …
Recognizing the Meaning in Meaningful Use
Meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs) is the goal, and required compliance is just around the corner. All healthcare organizations that are either transitioning to an EHR or currently utilizing such systems need to …
Coding Both Ways
To make the conversion to ICD-10 coding by the October 1, 2014 deadline, dual coding will happen. Healthcare organizations will be assigning ICD-10 and ICD-9 codes simultaneously to medical records. But don’t look at it as …
Understanding the Situation
ICD-10 has been in the healthcare vernacular for several years now. Even with the delay to an October 1, 2014 effective date, healthcare providers and information technology professionals are not on the same page as to …
Health Care is a Partnership
The onus for improving electronic health record (EHR) functionality has long been on physicians and healthcare providers. According to some leaders in the healthcare field, it is time encourage patients to bear some of the …
Facing the Challenges
Over the next nine months, providers will need to accomplish a hundred different ICD-10 prep activities before the October 1, 2014 transition hits the industry. In addition to technical testing, providers will have to ensure that their …
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