Inpatient coding departments are likely familiar with integrating clinical documentation improvement (CDI) specialists into their processes. Crystal Stalter, CPC, CCS-P, CDIP, looks at how CDI techniques can benefit outpatient settings and what services and codes facilities should target.
Even though we are set to inaugurate a new president of the United States who vowed to abolish Obamacare, I believe that Donald J. Trump will not touch provisions that address perceived cost inefficiency or quality within our healthcare system. In fact, if you’ve read CMS’ game plan for transforming healthcare published in JAMA in 2014, note that many of these provisions began with George W. Bush and have been embraced by the AMA with the implementation of MACRA.
The 30-day all cause acute myocardial infarction (AMI) mortality outcome measure has been linked to hospital payments since the inception of the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program (HVBP) in fiscal year 2013. In February 2016, CMS announced that 70% of commercial payers have agreed to use this measure as one of the cardiology outcomes linked to payment.
I always get invigorated after attending a good educational tradeshow. This past October’s AHIMA national conference provided a wonderful showcase of lectures, workshops, vendors, and events that seemed to have something for everyone.
Recently The Joint Commission implemented an initiative, Project REFRESH, to improve processes related to pre-survey, on-site survey, and post-survey activities. Simplification, enhanced relevancy to organizations, increased transparency within the accreditation process, and the utilization of innovative approaches and technology are the goals of Project REFRESH.
