HCPro.com: Radiology Administrator's Compliance and Reimbursement Insider

Each month in the Radiology Administrator's Compliance & Reimbursement Insider, you get strategies and techniques used by leading hospitals, medical groups, and imaging centers to comply with Medicare, Medicaid, and other regulatory requirements. Now with free eTools!

June 1, 2008 (Volume 5, Issue 6)	view entire issue

Take care of the needs of your aging work force
American productivity will likely depend on the efforts of workers aged 50 or older, according to a new policy brief released by the Boston College Center on Aging & Work. This is particularly true in the healthcare industry, says Kenneth Mitchell, PhD, vice president of health and productivity development at Unum, an employee benefits and disability insurance company in Columbus, OH. Despite the fact that the baby boomer generation is reaching retirement age, many boomers expect to remain in the workplace, says Mitchell, who led the study "Health and Productivity in the Aging American Work Force: Realities and Opportunities."

Target safety issues to ensure older workers' well-being
The lack of a safety plan to meet older workers' needs could cost facilities more later in the form of workers' compensation claims. In some cases, if an older worker's safety issues rise to the disability level-meaning the problem substantially limits a major life activity-your facility may have a legal obligation under the Americans with Disabilities Act to reasonably accommodate that staff member. Terry Jo Gile, MT(ASCP), MA, Ed, The Safety Lady®, a healthcare safety expert in North Fort Myers, FL, discusses a few safety issues older workers face and some ways to address these challenges

Don't let chart errors lead to further medical mistakes
Tragedies such as wrong-site surgeries can take a healthy kidney and leave a cancerous one: this happened recently at a St. Paul, MN, hospital. Such events can happen even if the facility follows The Joint Commission's Universal ProtocolT. So what can a radiology administrator do? Radiologists and radiology departments can take steps to avoid these terrible errors, says Alice G. Gosfield, Esq., a healthcare attorney and consultant at Alice G. Gosfield & Associates, PC, in Philadelphia. If the radiology department errs, even the best efforts afterward to follow protocols may not prevent a disaster. Surgical teams should review diagnostic images (x-rays, CTs, MRIs) to confirm the surgical site before surgery.

Other recently-published articles from Radiology Administrator's Compliance and Reimbursement Insider:

IDTF rules for physician offices nixed for 2009

NRC expands definition of byproduct material

RACRI 2008 index

Tips to obtain payment, despite plan denials

CMS issues test order signature clarification

Address test order protocol in hospital setting

ICD-10 execution date proposed: October 1, 2011

2009 MPFS offers imaging implications

MIPPA mandates imaging accreditation for all providers

Technologists play a major role in the revenue cycle

Common elements found in CIAs

Self-disclosure protocol clarified

Eight tips to improve MRI throughput

IDTFs get Claims Processing Manual chapter of their own

Medicare preserves local coverage determination for CCTA

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