Medical Billing Blog: Section - Medical Coding
Archive of all Articles in the Medical Coding Section
This is the archive containing links to all articles written in the Medical Coding section of our blog.
Click any of the article links below to read the entire article or browse another section to the right to read articles on another subject.
Inventing New Medical Billing Codes
Are there still medical conditions that have no codes for billing in ICD-10? Here is a graphic from Physician’s Practice on the subject… Credit and See the original article at Physician’s Practice
RCM tip: Meetings can enhance AR staff productivity
Meetings with individual accounts receivable staff can be a valuable tool to improve revenue cycle management performance, according to Susan Eilman, senior healthcare consultant at Wellesley, Mass.-based Hayes Management Consulting. Ms. Eilman shared the following tip with Becker’s Hospital Review. “Not every member of your staff performs the same. Employees fall into low, medium and high performance levels and from my experience, holding one-on-one meetings with each accounts receivable staff member allows you to understand what issues they experience daily, provide development tools for them to reach to a higher level, and set goals to enhance productivity. Listening is the best tool to discovering issues you may not have known …
Documenting in Your EHR While Focusing on the Patient
Mott Blair, a Wallace, N.C.-based family physician, doesn’t get distracted by the EHR in the patient exam room. That’s because he keeps it in the hallway, right outside the exam room. He uses an old-fashioned clipboard and paper to take notes during patient visits. “I do all my work face-to-face with patients. I maintain that eye contact, and I always listen,” he says. This work flow has been intentional on Blair’s part, since he’s witnessed many physicians “caught up” entering data and not focusing their attention on patients. His patient’s experience starts with a nurse at the practice capturing their vitals, chief complaint, and current medications and documenting those details …
Indiana Makes Top 5 States for EHR Adoption
A recent report by the Center for Data Innovation ranked each state based on its rate of EHR adoption and provided recommendations on how policymakers can enable more efficient data use. Data innovation—specifically in the healthcare industry—is imperative to fostering improvements across the care continuum. Researchers at the Center for Data Innovation stated data insights using EHR technology for preventive care and better clinical decision making could cut costs across the industry by up to $450 billion. States were evaluated and ranked for their level of EHR adoption and use according to the availability of high value data sets, development of useful technologies, and proliferation of human and business capital …
EHR Use Nearly Same in Hospital Outpatient Practices
EHR adoption is nearly universal in hospital-owned outpatient practices as of 2017, according to the latest research from HIMSS Analytics. The 9th Annual Outpatient PM and EHR Study pulled data from myriad sources, including a web-based survey aggregating data from a total of 436 respondents including physicians, practice managers, administrators, CEOs, and health IT experts between June 23, 2017 and July 12, 2017. Additionally, HIMSS collected information from its market intelligence platform on June 30, 2017 to gain insight into nearly 150,000 hospital-owned and independent practices. Based the data, 92 percent of hospital-owned outpatient facilities are presently using a live and operational EHR system. “Statistics from LOGIC and the 2017 …
RCM tip: Stop snail mail for electronic billing
Healthcare organizations should offer electronic billing options patients want rather than use snail mail to send paper statements, according to Jim Denny, president and CEO of Duluth, Ga.-based Navicure. He specifically cited a 2017 Patient Payment Check-Up survey that reveals 89 percent of providers still send paper statements through snail mail, although more than 50 percent of patients prefer electronic bills over paper statements. Given this survey, Mr. Denny shared the following tip with Becker’s Hospital Review. “Despite the abundance of technology that is available, many providers are still billing patients via snail mail. Not only does this way of billing cost more (on average paper billing can cost $7 …
EHR Dissatisfaction is Contributing to Provider Burnout
“I am a daily user of two EHR systems. One is a community hospital based complex EHR, and one is a cloud and iPad based EHR that we use in our private practice. The private practice-based EHR is much more user friendly and adapts well to our practice. I am what you would consider a “power-user” on our community hospital based EHR, and spend a fair amount of time helping other members of the medical staff better understand and use it. The integrated dictation, patient education, auto-population of data, and macros are just a few of the elements of the EHR that make my life easier, and has the potential …
eClinicalWorks Settlement Leads to Distrust of EHR Vendors
A recent study investigating provider opinions regarding the eClinicalWorks $155-million settlement found over one third of surveyed providers are more suspicious of all EHR vendors as a result of the lawsuit. The eClinicalWorks settlement followed allegations that the EHR company had misled consumers regarding its EHR certifications and paid some customers kickbacks in exchange for positive product promotion. Conducted by the Research Cloud, the study surveyed providers working in ambulatory settings to find out how familiar they are with the settlement and how the events have impacted their perception of eClinicalWorks and the EHR industry as a whole… Continue reading this article
Understanding HIPAA’s Medical Record Transfer Rules
“I recently received an inquiry from a physician who was frustrated by patients returning to his practice multiple times seeking copies of the same medical records. He described a situation where he (“Physician A”) had properly transferred a patient’s medical records to a new physician (“Physician B”). The patient then left Physician B to transfer to Physician C. Physician B was willing to transfer his own medical record for the patient to Physician C, but did not include the portion of the medical record provided by Physician A. Physician A was then required to provide his medical record to the patient again and wondered whether this was a common issue …
Tips for Succeeding at MIPS
With the CMS’ Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and value-based care model in full effect, it’s important for physicians to understand what MIPS means for their practices, particularly when it comes to understanding what types of technologies are available to help them avoid a negative adjustment to their Medicare reimbursement. As a practicing dermatologist, I’ve faced the ongoing challenges that evolving government mandates present and their subsequent reporting requirements. That said, these mandates, particularly MIPS, present an opportunity to refine and streamline existing regulations, while also taking a concerted step toward an effective quality care model and reimbursing physicians for value over volume. While another health IT mandate may seem …
