In a September story in the print journal, HIM directors in New Orleans discussed the state of their departments three years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. One director described her operations as “not normal, but workable.” The same is true for the personal lives of many HIM staff at facilities throughout the region.

While water can be drained and medical records restored, the emotional scars of the hurricane remain vivid three years later. Lives were lost, possessions disintegrated, and families scattered across the country. As an HIM director, emotional understanding continues to be a requirement as HIM employees try to work and rebuild their lives at the same time. (more…)

On Friday, August 15, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a notice of proposed rule making (NPRM) to replace the ICD-9-CM code set.

The announcement, issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, indicates that display copies of the anticipated NPRMs have been filed. The official NPRMs–one related to adoption of the ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS classifications and the second related to upgrades of the HIPAA claims-related transactions–will be published in the Federal Register on Friday, August 22, 2008. Additional information will soon be available on the CMS Web pages.

The CMS announcement specifies an October 1, 2011, compliance date for the two sets of changes.  Comments on the proposed rules are due no later that October 21, 2008.

AHIMA will offer a free 90-minute Webinar on the NPRM on Tuesday, August 26, 2008. AHIMA staff will also publish an analysis of the proposed rule.

This special August issue focuses on physician practices and how HIM professionals can help physicians transition to EHRs, improve documentation, and help with quality reporting. It also examines the medical home model and the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology’s work to certify EHRs. (more…)

In the August magazine, Mark Leavitt, MD, PhD, describes how product certification reduces risk and effort in selecting electronic health record systems. Certification also plays a role in promoting financial incentives for physician practices that adopt EHRs.

Organizations offering incentives necessarily put eligibility requirements around EHR systems to ensure that participating systems can deliver baseline benefits in quality measurement and improvement. Certification from a recognized body offers them a “solid qualifying mechanism” to do that, Leavitt says. (more…)

In the August issue we published a selected bibliography of research and writing on EHRs in physician practices. This is the extended version, as promised in the print issue. (more…)

As EHRs take center stage in the healthcare movement, numerous surveys have attempted to determine their rate of use, affect on quality, and the barriers to their implementation. The results usually agree in general, but the exact numbers they produce can differ greatly. One reason is that even objective studies can be unscientific.

The Institute for Health Policy (IHP) wanted a definitive answer on how many physicians were using EHRs. They got their chance with a grant from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), which they used to produce the study “Electronic Health Records in Ambulatory Care—A National Survey of Physicians.” The survey, which appeared in the July 3, 2008, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, aims to provide a scientific, accurate look at physician EHR use. (more…)

Clinical documentation improvement programs can enhance the clinical record and capture lost reimbursement. But they can be a challenge. Getting physician buy-in, avoiding turf wars between documentation specialists, coders, and nurses, and measuring program success are just a few of the challenges many facilities face with their programs. Below are a few tricks of the trade on running a successful CDIP, lent by experienced clinical documentation specialists. (more…)

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has published proposed rules for OPPS and ASC PPS in 2009.

2009 OPPS
CMS projects that proposed CY 2009 payment rates under the outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) will result in a 3.2 percent increase in Medicare payment for providers paid under the OPPS.

(more…)

Medical identity theft is a fast-growing and lucrative form of identity theft. The Journal’s July practice brief offers guidance on how HIM professionals and others can work together to prevent, investigate, and mitigate the damage that such theft causes.

The brief also offers a downloadable checklist for individuals who have been the victims of medical identity theft. The checklist includes steps consumers can take in response to a theft, including contact information for appropriate agencies they can notify.

The July issue examines coding’s biggest challenges today, as well as their solutions. The issue also reports on the CARE instrument, three successful HIM-led clinical documentation improvement programs, and how coding supervisors keep current in an ever-changing environment. (more…)