May 2014

Medical coding leaves 87-year-old facing $32,000 bill

By Robert Anglen for azcentral.com Eileen Schraan’s doctor told her to call 911. The 86-year-old woman had complained of shortness of breath and pain in her jaw, classic heart-attack symptoms. She was loaded into an ambulance and rushed to the emergency room. Schraan was kept under observation for three days last year at Banner Baywood…

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5 Things to Know About the New ICD-10 Implementation Date

Carrie Pallardy for Beckersasc.com The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed the new deadline for the switch to ICD-10 as Oct. 1, 2015. Here are five things to know about the new implementation date and the healthcare industry’s response. 1. The law that derailed 2014 implementation. On March 31, the U.S. Senate passed the…

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VA investigations now involve 26 facilities, says Inspector General

Matthew Daly, Associate Press, for csmonitor.com At least 10 new allegations about manipulated waiting times and other problems have surfaced since reports of problems at the Phoenix VA hospital came to light last month, say IG officials. The number of VA facilities under investigation after complaints about falsified records and treatment delays has more than…

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150 Great Places to Work in Healthcare 2014

By Becker’s Hospital Review Staff. Read the entire article here. Becker’s Healthcare is pleased to announce its “150 Great Places to Work in Healthcare” for 2014. The 2014 list was expanded to include healthcare providers — medical groups, ambulatory surgery centers, hospitals and health systems — along with other types of healthcare-specific companies, such as…

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Patient slapping at St. Joe’s symptom of persistent problem at U.S. hospitals: bad behavior by docs

By James T. Mulder for Syracuse.com Syracuse, N.Y. – The case of a Syracuse surgeon who the Onondaga County district attorney says slapped sedated patients on the buttocks and called them derogatory names illustrates a persistent problem at U.S. hospitals receiving heightened attention – bad behavior by doctors. Experts say even though inappropriate behavior by…

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Speaking of Union Hospital …

By Dave Baumgardner, Director of Information Management, Union Hospital, for Health Management Technology Speech technology improves productivity and reduces costs for community hospital. Union Hospital’s investments in digital dictation and transcription over the years have not only improved its documentation productivity and reduced costs, but have also helped prepare our hospital for the upcoming ICD-10…

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CAC & the Coder’s Transition

By Becky DeGrosky, Product Manager at TruCode & Chris Casto, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Dolbey for Advance for Health Information Professionals Computer-assisted coding and encoder technology are changing workflow for ICD-10 readiness. The medical coding career has not experienced a significant change event since the introduction of DRGs in 1984. For decades,…

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Poll shows frustration over ICD-10 delay

By: Bernie Monegain, Editor for HealthcareITNews.com The American Health Information Management Association’s 2014 ICD-10 and Computer Assisted Coding Summit April 22-23 in the nation’s capital featured the latest industry reaction to the ICD-10 delay. Summit participants had the chance to share opinions in a real-time poll conducted via text that addressed a variety of key…

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Exclusive: FBI warns healthcare sector vulnerable to cyber attacks

By Jim Finkle for Reuters UK (Reuters) – The FBI has warned healthcare providers their cybersecurity systems are lax compared to other sectors, making them vulnerable to attacks by hackers searching for Americans’ personal medical records and health insurance data. Health data is far more valuable to hackers on the black market than credit card…

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