Editor's note: Each month in 2011, we're celebrating MRB's 25th year with special content, including extra reports and tools, discounts, and contests. Read on to find out how you can win a free 2012 ICD-9-CM Coding Manual.
If patients were already concerned about healthcare organizations' ability to protect their information, a report released in May did nothing to alleviate their fears.
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.
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.
