News & Analysis

January 31, 2017
HIM Briefings

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.

January 11, 2017
HIM Briefings

The implementation of ICD-10 in 2015 was considered an industrywide success. Coders were trained, HIM departments were prepared, and outsourced coding companies expanded their roles. As we enter the second year of ICD-10, what should HIM directors expect from their coding teams and outsourced vendor partnerships?

January 1, 2017
Briefings on APCs

Managers should not assume that they can review every guideline, every item in Coding Clinic, or every coding-related issue targeted by the Office of Inspector General or Recovery Auditor. 

January 1, 2017
Briefings on APCs

One area of CPT coding that saw big changes for 2017 is for dialysis circuit coding. The existing codes have all been deleted, and new codes have been created (36901-36909) for reporting these procedures.  

December 21, 2016
HIM Briefings

Today’s HIM professional needs to understand the various programs and the impact that coding and documentation may have on an organization’s performance. By 2018, 50% of Medicare payments will be tied to value-based alternative payment models.

December 19, 2016
HIM Briefings

Most of us are familiar with ICD-10-CM through picking codes from a list in our EHRs or perusing a printed code book. Allow me to suggest that unless we understand the coding rules in the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, we may mistakenly pick the wrong code, leading to a potential false claim.

Pages