Q. We acquired a home health agency and now employ home health nurses, physical therapists, speech therapists, etc. Can we permit workforce members to use their personal cell phones to communicate with patients? Is there a HIPAA-compliant means of doing so for calls, email, and text messages?
The majority of breached patient records in January were due to hacking and insider-related incidents, according to a report by Protenus, which analyzed the 37 health data breaches reported to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in January. The hacking incident which had the biggest impact occurred at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, where an unauthorized third party gained access to the computer network, and thus access to Medicaid patient billing information.
Coding and documentation can make or break providers’ success under the Quality Payment Program. An examination of specific measures reveals coding and documentation areas to focus on.
Efficient, correct, and compliant release of information (ROI) processes are necessary to support patient care, legal processes, reimbursement, and patients’ rights. Give ROI staff and leaders a shot of energy with targeted training that adapts to their needs. Succinct modules, interaction, and a positive attitude can have a ripple effect on the department.
Q: Does a hospital need to obtain the patient's written consent before obtaining physician office notes? Can I contact the physician office and request the needed information without obtaining a written consent from the patient? The office notes are needed for payment purposes.
Electronic health records fall short of early promises that they would reduce administrative costs, a recent study found. The cost of completing insurance- and billing-related activities in the EHR can represent more than a quarter of professional reimbursement for an emergency department visit.
CMS, the Veterans Health Administration, and some states measure our care quality based on risk-adjusted readmission rates after inpatient admissions. In fact, up to 3% of our hospital’s Medicare inpatient revenue (used to pay physician subsidies) is at risk if we don’t manage our patients’ readmissions in concert with Medicare’s algorithms.
In advance of ICD-10-CM/PCS, many institutions implemented computer-assisted coding (CAC) hoping to mitigate the anticipated productivity losses, but research has confirmed suspicions that there is an inverse relationship between coding productivity and accuracy.
