Memorial Hermann Healthcare System (MHHS) in Houston includes nine acute care hospitals, one children's hospital, three long-term acute care hospitals, three specialty care hospitals, 21 regional affiliates, a home health agency, a retirement/nursing center, 10 ambulatory surgery centers, 21 imaging centers—and only one HIM department.
Prior to July 1, 2008, however, that was not the case. MHHS' medical records/HIM departments used to be facility- based. Each hospital had its own medical records department, its own coders, and its own vendors. But MHHS' leadership recognized that in an era when cost savings are a must, this model was not as efficient as it could be. A restructuring of the department was in order.
Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center in Mattoon, IL developed a productivity incentive plan for their coders and transcriptionists. For the hospital, the bonus plan serves as a retention and marketing tool, not to mention it has increased productivity, and the staff members appreciate it, too.
On December 30, 2009, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology published the interim final rule for EHR certification standards, and on January 13, CMS issued the proposed rule on the EHR Meaningful Use Incentive Program and meaningful use standards in the Federal Register.
CMS has once again contracted with the TMF Health Quality Institute to release Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Reports (PEPPER) data in 2010.
You receive a letter in the mail requesting copies of medical records for an audit. It looks much like the one you received the day before, but the return address is different. And they both look quite similar to the other request for documentation you received last week.
Just getting started with your transition to an EHR? Consider these five tips from experts in the field as well as some of the providers who’ve been in your shoes.
