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CMS announces potential start date for recovery auditor prepayment review demonstration
On November 15, 2011, CMS unveiled three demonstration projects aimed at reducing improper payments...
Top 10 reasons to attend the JustCoding Virtual Summit: ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS
Here are the top 10 reasons you should attend the JustCoding Virtual Summit: ICD-10-CM and...
Q&A: Incidental disclosures and patient privacy
Q: Our phlebotomy area has two drawing chairs and is divided by a curtain. Is it a HIPAA violation...
Know how pain justifies medical necessity
Generally speaking, coders are taught not to code signs and symptoms that are integral to a disease...
Reinvigorate EHR quality monitors for the new year
HIM directors must renew efforts in the new year to ensure the effectiveness of EHR quality...

Meaningful use appeals process guidance released
The CMS Office of Clinical Standards and Quality (OCSQ) introduced a new appeals process, last...
LAST CHANCE to participate in our 2012 Scanning Productivity Benchmarking Survey
Dear reader, Medical Records Briefing is conducting a benchmarking survey on scanning productivity...
Q&A: Documentation for admitting a newly discharged patient
Q: A patient is discharged from our hospital so he can be transferred by helicopter to another...
DESIGN an effective HIM department
Elizabeth Layman, PhD, RHIA, CCS, FAHIMA, professor in the Department of Health Services and...
How to improve your privacy and security training program
It's 2012, and that means it's time to make some resolutions to kick off the new year. "This...

Participate in our 2012 Scanning Productivity Benchmarking Survey
Dear reader, Medical Records Briefing is conducting a benchmarking survey on scanning...
Congratulations to our MRB contest winner!
Carolyn Taggett, RHIT, director of health information services at Northern Maine Medical Center in...
Q&A: Tracking e-mails with PHI
Q: The draft accounting of disclosures rule may require tracking e-mails sent between healthcare...
Be aware of cloned documentation
In addition to confirming the validity of diagnoses, RACs and other auditors are reviewing...
Apply a risk analysis to an EHR environment: It's not just HIPAA and meaningful use
The death of an infant at an Illinois hospital made national news in June 2011. Genesis Burkett...

JustCoding Virtual Summit: ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS
Get three days of ICD-10 training without the travel. This online event, February 29-March 2, 2012...
Q&A: Querying for acute confusion
Q: Can a patient have encephalopathy after surgery? For example, a patient post-surgery becomes...
HIM role in quality initiatives
Quality initiatives are here to stay, and there are new ones popping up all the time. Ignoring them...
Bundled payment plan aims to improve care, lower costs
Hospitals have long lamented the difficulty of obtaining physician buy-in for various quality...

Expansion of the multiple procedure payment reduction
CMS plans to expand the Multiple Procedure Payment Reduction (MPPR) for 2012. While the increase is...
Q&A: Potential PHI breach from found medical records
Q We found medical records about one of our patients in our parking lot. Is this a breach? What...
Focus on DRGs with one MCC
Coders must pay close attention to records that include only one MCC, says Glenn Krauss, BBA, RHIA...
Survey shows many organizations experience HIPAA breaches, remain unprepared for an audit
At the start of 2012, the healthcare industry still has a long way to go when it comes to the state...

CMS releases details of recovery auditor prepayment review demonstration
On November 15, CMS announced that it will launch a number of demonstration programs that are set...
CMS to delay two out of three new demonstration projects aimed at reducing improper payments
On December 29, CMS issued a notice announcing the delay of the recovery audit prepayment review...
Q&A: Reporting new ICD-9-CM code V40.31
Q. When may we report new ICD-9-CM code V40.31 (wandering in diseases classified elsewhere)? This...
Make use of technology to help spot inappropriate record access
Build triggers into your electronic system to identify aberrant and atypical user behavior, said...
Manage the changing nature of HIM jobs
Times are changing, and, most likely, so are the jobs of your HIM staff members. In some cases...