Be a 'hospital Houdini' when auditing
Health Care Auditing Strategies, June 1, 2006
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Tips, tricks, and tactics to fix outpatient problems
Hospital outpatient services, charges, and coding come from many sources-which can make auditing a nightmare for your average hospital auditor, health information management (HIM) director, or compliance officer. Don't make the mistake of looking at just one part of the coding chain when performing an audit, said Susan Garrison, CPC, CPC-H, CCS-P, CHC, CPAR, vice president of healthcare consulting services for Magnus Confidential in Atlanta.
"You have to figure out what, who did it, and why," she said. "The tough part is, unlike a physician's practice, you rarely are able to go back to just a single coder or physician to educate."
The solution? Become a "hospital Houdini" and delve into the information chain, said Garrison, who presented this subject during the April American Academy of Professional Coders annual conference in St. Louis in the presentation "Hospital Houdini: Some magic tips, tricks, and tactics for successful auditing of outpatient hospital claims."
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