Healthcare

Warrants say physician was intoxicated when he shot orthopedic sales representative

By Ayla Ellison for Becker’s Hospital Review Warrants released May 7 allege a South Carolina physician was under the influence of alcohol when he shot an orthopedic salesman in October 2017, according to The State. Adam Lazzarini, MD, is charged with obstruction of justice and involuntary manslaughter in the accidental shooting death of William Player Holland,…

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5 things to know about state health system performance rankings

By John Gregory for HealthExec The Commonwealth Fund’s 2018 scorecard on state health system performance saw the five highest-ranked states maintain their exact rankings from the last report, with Hawaii again claiming the No. 1 spot. The most striking finding was the surge in deaths from suicide, alcohol and overdoses from opioids and other drugs…

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It’s not just EHRs: Interoperability also poses big challenges for revenue cycle

By Mike Miliard for Healthcare IT News More than three-quarters of the hospitals surveyed for a new HIMSS Analytics study said that denials are the biggest challenge they face with revenue cycle management. One reason for that could be their use of multiple IT systems that don’t mesh well together with various systems looking at…

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Time’s ‘100 Most Influential People 2018’ featured 4 healthcare individuals — here’s who they are

By Alyssa Rege for Becker’s Hospital Review Time released its annual “100 Most Influential People of 2018” April 19, and four healthcare individuals made the cut. The annual list features influential individuals from various fields, including figures in the entertainment industry, activists, Olympic athletes and business executives. “The Time 100 is a list of the world’s…

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Feeling the Burn: Confessions of a Formerly Burned Out Coder

By Kristi Pollard, RHIT, CCS, CPC, CIRCC, AHIMA-Approved ICD-10-CM/PCS Trainer for ICD10 Monitor Ten strategies for avoiding burnout are provided by the author. On any given day, if you walked into my home office, you might think you were in a spa. The walls are painted a soothing aqua color (at least, I think it’s soothing),…

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In Outpatient CDI, Timing is Everything

Article by Susan Richards Morgan, CCS, CPHQ, CPC, CDEO, CRC, CPMA, CEMC, CPC-I. This article was originally published on the A Journal of AHIMA Blog on April 25, 2018 and is republished here with permission. Currently, most clinical documentation improvement (CDI) programs have been developed inside hospitals with an inpatient focus. Medicare generally expects an inpatient admission to need two…

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Why the healthcare industry could face an ultimatum: Keep hiring or lower costs

By Beth Jones Sanborn for Healthcare Finance News While the healthcare industry has been much-lauded for continued job growth, adding jobs on a consistent basis, experts say that economic boost may be a double-edged sword, bolstering one of the most lamented aspects of the healthcare industry, rising costs. In a JAMA Viewpoint post, authors Jonathan…

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Auditing Issues Uncovered in Physician Documentation: Part I

By Terry Fletcher BS, CPC, CCC, CEMC, CCS, CCS-P, CMC, CMCSC, CMCS, ACS-CA, SCP-CA for ICD10 Monitor Physician documentation issues during an audit go beyond CDI. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a four-part series that examines physician documentation issues as seen by an auditor. One of the services I offer, aside from coding…

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6 things keeping CIOs up at night

By Beth Jones Sanborn for Healthcare IT News Last month, LexisNexis brought together 30 high-level executives, most of whom were CIOs from hospitals, nursing homes and health plans of all sizes from across the county to find out what data-related issues are weighing on them most as we get further into 2018. Ed Domansky, LexisNexis…

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