HIM's management of the patient portion of the Vanderbilt Medical Center's patient portal MyHealthAtVanderbilt (MHaV) may well make it unique, but the approach has paid off, says Anne Dixon, RHIA, manager of medical information services in Vanderbilt's HIM department.
For years we have heard that EHRs improve the quality of clinical documentation in the medical record. While this is absolutely true in terms of legibility, it may not be so true otherwise.
Coding productivity will decrease at least initially with the switch to ICD-10-CM/PCS. Coders will also need complete, accurate documentation to take advantage of the new code set's increased specificity. So HIM and coding managers need to know how productive their coders are and the extent of their clinical knowledge base, as well as how accurately and completely physicians are documenting.
The staff at St. Francis Hospital-the Heart Center in Roslyn, NY, recognize that ICD-10 is more than a one-person job, which is why Elizabeth Heller, RHIA, HIM director, and Adelaide M. La Rosa, RN, BSN, CCDS, clinical documentation improvement (CDI) program director, are cochairing efforts.
Jean Stone, RHIT, CCS, has never met some of the coders who report directly to her. She has, however, spoken with them by phone, and in some cases, she has seen their wedding or other photographs. This is because nearly all members of her department work remotely.
