December 2015

12 Days of Christmas

In the true spirit of the holidays, I am sharing an ICD-10 coding gift that was given to me in hopes that you will enjoy it as much as I did. Thank you, Annie Boynton, BS, CPC, COC (formerly CPC-H), CPC-P, CPC-I, RHIT, CCS, CCS-P, CPhT. Your clever mind, generosity, and humility have no limits.…

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The Leapfrog Group names 2015 Top Hospitals: 5 things to know

By Shannon Barnet for Becker’s Infection Control & Clinical Quality The Leapfrog Group has recognized 98 hospitals as Top Hospitals on its 2015 list, up from 94 hospitals in 2014 and 90 in 2013. The list recognizes organizations that performed at the highest national levels in quality and safety. All total, more than 1,600 hospitals…

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The Essentials of Medical Necessity

By Laurie Desjardins, CPC-I for For The Record Vol. 27 No. 11 P. 6 The Social Security Act defines medical necessity as follows: “Notwithstanding any other provisions of this title, no payment may be made under Part A or Part B for any expenses incurred for items or services, which are not reasonable and necessary for the diagnosis…

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2015 Best Hospital IT Departments: Meet the winners

By Mike Miliard for Healthcare IT News Hospital IT departments have a lot on their proverbial plates these days, as they work to help their health systems manage the minutia of meaningful use attestations, deal with the nuts and bolts of the ICD-10 changeover (so far, so good!) and strengthen defenses against data security threats that…

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ICD-10 Moves Healthcare One Step Closer to Improved Documentation

Article by Karen Diop, RN, CDIP. This article was originally published on the Journal of AHIMA website in the “Coding Notes” section in November 2015 and is republished here with permission. Change has become a constant in healthcare. With the introduction of electronic health record (EHR) systems, core measures, the “meaningful use” EHR Incentive Program, value-based purchasing, and the…

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Held by ransomware: Should you really pay criminals to get your data back?

By Tom Sullivan for Healthcare IT News Ransomware attacks and tools are on the rise and perhaps more so than has been widely understood thus far. The gist: Hackers crack into a network via malicious URLs or malware, find data they can encrypt with relatively low-cost tools, and then demand either money or Bitcoins to return it.…

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Queries: It’s All in the Timing

By Susan Chapman for For The Record Whether delivered face to face or remotely, requests are more apt to receive a response if they’re delivered within a physician’s workflow. There are different ways in which physicians are queried to ensure patient health records are complete. Most facilities employ onsite clinical documentation improvement (CDI) teams that are…

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