One thing is certain: You don't want to wait until you receive a notification letter from OCR before you begin preparing for a HIPAA audit, says Dena Boggan, CPC, CMC, CCP, HIPAA privacy/security officer at St. Dominic Jackson (Miss.) Memorial Hospital.
You're reviewing a case file and discover that a patient's recent readmission is due to a medication prescribing error made by a physician. Do you report it?
With the compliance date for ICD-10-CM/PCS implementation finally set in stone, all that's left to do is plan, plan, and execute plans. To help you, we asked Deborah Grider, CPC, CPC-I, CPC-H, CPC-P, CPMA, CEMC, COBGC, CPCD, CCS-P, CDIP, senior manager at Blue and Company in Indianapolis, an industry expert on ICD-10, for preparation tips and action steps for ICD-10 implementation.
As an HIM professional, you have long managed the quality and integrity of the health record. You know all components inside and out, aid in the design of forms to accurately and completely capture the necessary information, and point out potential data discrepancies in the record prior to finalization.
It's December, the end of a long 2012 for you and your HIM staff. Whether you have 50 coders or five, you may be putting the final touches on an end-of-the-year celebration.
