Lies, darn lies, and survey results
HIM-HIPAA Insider, June 1, 2015
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to HIM-HIPAA Insider!
We love surveys, especially about ICD-10. Seriously, how many ICD-10 surveys have you been asked to fill out in the past year alone?
It’s very easy to look at survey results and think things look really good or really bad, depending on the survey and what you want to see.
Take the NueMD 2015 Attitudes Towards ICD-10 survey, for example. When I first saw the results, I freaked out a little. How could 25% of the 1,000 respondents not be familiar with the ICD-10 coding standards? Even worse, how could 15% not be familiar with the proposed timeline for implementation?
When you look at who took the survey, things become somewhat clearer (and slightly less alarming). NeuMD surveyed small and medium-sized physician practices, but they didn’t just ask the physicians and coders.
Of the 1,000 respondents, 43% were clinicians, 16% were office managers, and another 13% were administrators. Billers, both in-house and contracted, made up 15% of the respondents. Eight percent identified themselves as “other.” Coders are not specifically identified, so they are probably part of that category.
It makes sense that the non-clinicians would not be familiar with ICD-10 coding standards. They don’t need to know them. What percentage of clinicians are familiar with the coding standards or, more importantly, the documentation requirements? We don’t know. The survey results don’t tell us.
When you see survey results, think critically about them, just like you would any documentation that you see. What do the results really mean? Whose views are reflected in the results? Are the results relevant to you?
Survey results can be a good way to evaluate where you are or how you compare to others. Just make sure you’re making meaningful comparisons.
This article originally appeared on HCPro’s ICD-10 Trainer blog.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to HIM-HIPAA Insider!
Related Products
-
Briefings on APCs
Worried about the complexities of the new rules under OPPS and APCs? Briefings on APCs helps you understand the new rules...
-
HIM Briefings
Guiding Health Information Management professionals through the continuously changing field of medical records and toward a...
-
Briefings on Coding Compliance Strategies
Submitting improper Medicare documentation can lead to denial of fees, payback, fines, and increased diligence from payers...
-
Briefings on HIPAA
How can you minimize the impact of HIPAA? Subscribe to Briefings on HIPAA, your health information management resource for...
-
APCs Insider
This HTML-based e-mail newsletter provides weekly tips and advice on the new ambulatory payment classifications regulations...
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Don't forget the three checks in medication administration
- Practice the six rights of medication administration
- Note similarities and differences between HCPCS, CPT® codes
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- Differentiate between types of wound debridement
- Code diagnoses and outpatient treatment for PTSD
- Q&A: Primary, principal, and secondary diagnoses
- What to include on the incident report
- ICD-10-CM coma, stroke codes require more specific documentation
- Know guidelines and subtle differences in code descriptions for laceration repairs
- E-mailed
-
- Stop emergency department violence against nurses, physicians
- Q&A: Resection or excision in ICD-10
- Inpatient-only procedures: Accuracy helps avoid denials, ensure compliance
- Can we charge for insertion of a PICC line when a certified nurse performs it?
- New workplace violence training program focuses on healthcare settings
- IV pushes that last more than 15 minutes
- Answer appropriate questions before billing for IV antibiotics and dressing change
- Improve meeting minutes with these seven tips
- How to get reimbursed for restorative nursing
- HIPAA Q&A: You've got questions. We've got answers!
- Searched
