Medical Billing Blog: Section - Medical Data

Archive of all Articles in the Medical Data Section

This is the archive containing links to all articles written in the Medical Data 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.

What it Takes for a Successful EHR Implementation

In a recent article in Harvard Business Review, the former CEO of the Permanente Medical Group Robert M. Pearl, MD relayed his experiences installing an Epic EHR system ten years ago and the factors responsible for a successful EHR implementation. Despite the hefty cost of implementation — in the area of $4 billion — the EHR system quickly proved beneficial in delivering more efficient, accurate patient care because of the right approach, according to the now Chairman of the Council of Accountable Physician Practices. However, not all physicians have such a positive experience. Many remain skeptical the advantages of EHR implementation outweigh the costs and administrative strain. Several Boston physicians

Published By: Melissa C. - OMG, LLC. CEO | No Comments

How to Collaborate for EHR Usability

The number of health IT developers and products has increased significantly as a result of federal incentives for EHR adoption but correlates with the rise of provider dissatisfaction with the usability of these systems. What providers expect from their EHR systems and what health IT developers deliver have proved not to be one in the same. This disconnect points to the need for the latter to focus on the needs of the former and deliver EHR technology that is user-centered. Therefore, collaboration between health IT developers and clinical end-users is key to ensuring EHR systems are user-friendly in an industry rapidly adopting new technologies year after year to tackle new

Published By: Melissa C. - OMG, LLC. CEO | No Comments

EHR Data Helps Scientists Detect Heart Failure Earlier

Joint research between IBM Research and Sutter Health led to the development of methods for predicting heart failure using clues imbedded in patient records in Epic EHR technology. Researchers observed the performance of machine learning models designed to detect prediagnostic heart failure in primary care patients using longitudinal data in EpicCare EHRs. “Information that can be gained on populations of patients from longitudinal EHR data can be used to individualize care for a given patient,” Ng et al. stated. “Access to these data in combination with the rapid evolution of modern machine learning and data mining techniques offers a potentially promising means to accelerate discoveries that can be readily translated

Published By: Melissa C. - OMG, LLC. CEO | No Comments

EHR is Still a Top Buying Priority for Physicians

A recent survey of healthcare executives shows that inpatient and outpatient EHR technology are top of mind for provider buying priorities for health IT purchases, trailing only telemedicine. A third of 248 respondents to a Research Data survey listed telemedicine (33%), inpatient EHR (32%), and outpatient EHR (32%) solutions as their current top health IT buying priorities. The three technologies were well ahead of MACRA implementation and patient engagement, both reported by 20 percent of healthcare executives, as health IT purchasing priorities. The greatest number of respondents — ranging from healthcare CEOs, CIOs, and CFOs to IT, medical, and nursing directors — working in standalone hospitals (47%) and integrated delivery

Published By: Melissa C. - OMG, LLC. CEO | No Comments

Who’s Accessing Your Health Data?

Despite the fact that ransomware and hacking attacks draw the biggest headlines, it is actually improper insider access that causes the highest number of data breaches. Such are the results from the most recent Protenus “Breach Barometer,” which analyzes reported and sometimes not so publicly reported breaches in healthcare each month. For those who follow privacy and security in healthcare, the Protenus findings are not that surprising. Reports of inappropriate access by insiders are frequent and show a disturbing trend. Many of the reports allege that information was not used in any detrimental manner. Only that snooping occurred. However, there are two problems with that view. First, even small insider

Published By: Melissa C. - OMG, LLC. CEO | No Comments

Many EHR Vendors and Providers Block Information Exchange

Half of electronic health record (EHR) vendors and a quarter of hospitals and health systems routinely engage in information blocking that restricts data flow between providers with different EHRs, according to officials of public health information exchanges (HIEs) surveyed by researchers at the University of Michigan. The top motivation for EHR developers was revenue maximization, whereas the hospital systems were mainly motivated by a desire to maintain or enhance their competitive position, the authors state. The study was published online March 7 in the Milbank Quarterly. In a report issued 2 years ago, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) said there was anecdotal evidence showing that

Published By: Melissa C. - OMG, LLC. CEO | No Comments

Demonstrating the Complexity of Care

SCENARIO: So, you are working at a multi-specialty practice that recently employed a urologist. As the Lead Medical Auditor and a member of the Corporate Compliance Team, you begin to worry about the chart audits as you have no members on your team that have worked within this specialty before. Take a deep breath – and remember that the largest volume of claims that the urologist will bill are E&M services. Regardless of the specialty of any medical practice, each will utilize Evaluation and Management (E&M) services in greater volumes than surgical services. Specialty-specific trained medical auditors are well versed in trudging through records to note the disease processes and

Published By: Shannon DeConda | No Comments

EHR Meaningful Use and Stage 2 Guidelines

January has brought upon the EHR (electronic health records) Stage 2 incentive programs start for physician and medical practices. However, there is a great deal of concern that those doctors who can meet Stage 1 requirements will not be able to meet the Stage 2, because their EHRs are not up to standard and neither are the vendors that they deal with. There are 2200 products and almost 1400 EHR certifications for Stage 1, but only 75 products and 21 EHR certifications for stage 2. Around 90 percent of the vendors are expected to not be ready for stage 2. Stage 2 is the second step of meaningful use for

Published By: Melissa C. - OMG, LLC. CEO | No Comments

Deadlines: Regulations on HIPAA Compliance for Physicians

The deadline of September 23, 2013 has come and gone on the calendar. It was on this day the federal government enacted changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, better known as HIPAA. Medical physicians must be compliant with privacy and security and changes will include things like how to properly secure a patient’s health information or what you must tell a patient about their privacy rights. Medical physicians have 6 months to comply, and for many this is a difficult task to stay on so that the deadline is met. Compliance of the act includes the following updates to the regulations. Physicians must conduct a risk analysis

Published By: Melissa C. - OMG, LLC. CEO | No Comments

ICD-10: Know ICD-9 And ICD-10 Differences Beforehand!

ICD-10 deadline is looming. The fear of October 2014 has sent the healthcare industry in a tizzy with many fearing for its accurate compliance. The haphazard preparation of the diagnostic codes is a disaster waiting to happen. Before chalking out the ICD-10 action plan for your practice and to ensure a smooth transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10, it would be wise for you to know the most crucial differences between ICD-9 and ICD-10. Lack of Specifics ICD-9 has been marred by a glaring lack of specification, for instance, the same injuries on opposite limbs comprise the same code. This leads to complexity and gives room for confusion on different levels.

Published By: Steve Gray Stevenson | One Comment