There are some Joint Commission EPs with which almost all hospital HIM departments struggle. Surveyors continue to focus on them, so chances are you should too.
Even with today's tight budgets, there are still ways you can brighten the faces of your staff members. We asked the MRB advisory board members for their best ideas and tried-and-true tactics. Here's what they had to say.
When President Obama signed into law the HITECH Act as part of ARRA in February 2009, it meant a bevy of changes to the existing HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Enforcement Rules.
In what instances would a dual system be necessary? What impact, if any, will ICD-10-CM/PCS have on transcription? What about form redesign? Find out the answers to your colleagues' ICD-10 implementation questions.
Establishing coder productivity standards can be challenging if you don't know where to begin. There are many factors affecting productivity levels, from record type to the tools coders have available to them.
However, establishing fair standards for your coders is important, as is knowing whether your department is running efficiently.
HCPro conducted a detailed benchmarking survey earlier this year of HIM directors and managers nationwide to bring you the latest information on coder productivity levels and standards so you can compare your department to its peers.
Test your knowledge of HIPAA: Is it permissible to leave voice messages on patients' home or work phones reminding them of appointments? Is it okay to use stickers on the outside of a patient's chart to remind us of his or her payer source? I need to take copies of documents home to finish up my clinical notes. Is this a violation of HIPAA?
Somewhere between the third urgent item on your to-do list, getting your budgets prepared, and responding to the latest auditor's requests lies the omnipresent responsibility of nurturing the validity of the medical record. HIM professionals have traditionally been the legal custodians of the record. (After all, who else is daring enough to testify in court on the accuracy of the EHR?) Have we also by default become the custodians of data integrity?
Managing the changeover to ICD-10 may be so completely overwhelming for some HIM directors and managers that just getting started is the most difficult part.
