HIM Briefings

Jefferson Regional Medical Center (JRMC), a 471-bed nonprofit hospital located in Pine Bluff, AR, is the fourth largest medical center in the state and serves 11 counties in south Arkansas. When I started working there in early November 2010, I quickly realized we had a number of opportunities to improve our HIM operations and efficiencies.

Editor's note: Train staff members on ICD-10-CM with the following quiz, excerpted from the ICD-10 Training Toolkit published in November by HCPro, Inc. For more information, visit www.hcmarketplace.com/prod-9730.

Editor's note: There are a number of ways to get information into the hands of your facility's physicians. The following list offers several suggestions on how to train and engage your medical staff. This article was adapted from the October issue of CDI Journal, a quarterly publication for members of the Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists (ACDIS). Additional information is available at www.acdis.org.

Editor's note: In honor of the holidays, we asked our "MRB Talk" members to send us their HIM holiday wishes. From funny to serious, we hope that each one of your wishes is answered for you in the coming year. And to all of our readers, we hope you have a safe and happy holiday season and a wonderful new year. Now, read on to find out what your colleagues are wishing for this holiday season, and, as always, if you aren't a member of the listserv but would like to be, feel free to e-mail me at akraynak@hcpro.com.

The Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs are well under way at this point. The federal Medicare incentive program began issuing payments earlier this year, and many states have already done so as well for the Medicaid program.

It's almost that time of year again, when holidays abound and people's lives tend to get even more hectic than normal. As a manager, it means planning holiday parties, dealing with requests for time off, and a myriad of other tasks.

As the weather cools, the heat is on coders to properly report the high number of pneumonia cases they tend to see during the winter months.

Rose T. Dunn, MBA, RHIA, CPA, FACHE, FHFMA, took on a new role in June: She became the interim CEO of AHIMA. In the past she has also served twice on the AHIMA board of directors, in addition to a term as president of the organization. Dunn was kind enough to take a few minutes from her busy schedule to speak with us about her role and the future of AHIMA, and to offer some advice for those in the field.

Test staff members' knowledge of HIPAA with these questions from readers.