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Issue 12, December 1, 2012 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Eight action steps for ICD-10 implementation

  With the compliance date for ICD-10-CM/PCS implementation finally set in stone, all that's left to...

• Quiz: How well do you know your 2013 ICD-9-CM E codes?

  Use this quiz to test coding staff members on 2013 ICD-9-CM E codes:

• EHR usability:Assess whether your system is the best fit

  As an HIM professional, you have long managed the quality and integrity of the health record. You...

• Plan a fun, safe, professional end-of-year celebration

  It's December, the end of a long 2012 for you and your HIM staff. Whether you have 50 coders or...

Issue 11, November 1, 2012 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• No time to delay

  HHS will delay implementation of ICD-10 by one year, from October 1, 2013, to October 1, 2014.

• HIPAA Q&A: Sheriff requests for PHI, ­encrypted email, and holiday cards

  Our experts answer your HIPAA questions related to sheriff requests for PHI, ­encrypted email...

• Stage 2 meaningful use final rule offers opportunities

  The monetary reward offered through the second stage of the Medicare and Medicaid incentive program...

Issue 10, October 1, 2012 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Release of information practices revealed

  In the final quarterly benchmarking survey of 2012, ­MRB examined the release of information...

• Computer-assisted coding and the EHR

  In this month's issue, we explore a current hot topic in the HIM world.

• Quiz: How well do you know your 2012 ICD-9-CM V codes?

  Use this quiz to test coding staff members on 2012 ICD-9-CM V codes:

• How long should a hospital retain a minor's record?

  Editor's note: The following scenario is provided by Laurie A. Rinehart-­Thompson, JD, RHIA...

• What will coders need to know for ICD-10 proficiency?

  Coders need to code. This much you know. But with the transition to ICD-10-CM/PCS occurring perhaps...

• Uncomplicate postoperative complications

  Coding accuracy in postoperative complications ­impacts a facility's Medicare claims profile...

Issue 9, September 1, 2012 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• ICD-10 two-year game plan

  Retain. Train. Assess. Investigate. Analyze. HIM professionals have undoubtedly come across...

• Update your record retention policies

  It's September­-time to hit the books again and get back to school. If you're an aspiring HIM...

• HIPAA Q&A: Protecting staff privacy; waiting room practices for patients with the same name

  Q What is your opinion on providing extra protection for the medical records of staff who are also...

• Keep top HIM findings on your radar screen

  Over the last six months, The Joint Commission's ­survey have continued to show a pattern in...

Issue 8, August 1, 2012 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• ICD-10-CM/PCS: Ready or not, here it comes!

  Betty B. Bibbins has a message for any healthcare professional-including HIM managers and...

• Extra! Extra! Create a coding newsletter to highlight documentation issues for your physicians

  Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene (N.H.), like many others, pays close attention to...

• Quiz: How well do you know your 2012 ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes?

  Use this quiz to test coding staff members.

• Secure mobile devices, portable media, and text messages

  If HIM professionals needed another reason to be ­concerned with protected health information...

• Beat the heat-and boost your staff members' morale

  Summers can be wonderful, it's true. But they can ­also be a glowing reminder of what you don't...

Issue 7, July 1, 2012 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• HIM professionals: Demand grows, staff doesn't

  For HIM professionals who took our annual salary survey, it's been a "Yes, but …"...

• EHR security: It's everyone's battle

  EHR security-that's an IT thing, right? Sure it is.

• Presumptive assumptions in relation to EHRs

  A presumption is a belief or hypothesis about something. An assumption is taking a piece of...

• HIPAA Q&A: Speakerphone conversations; ER chart reviews; billing discussions

  Test staff knowledge of HIPAA with these questions:

• CMS developing new survey worksheets

  Meaningful use, ICD-10, Recovery Auditors, survey and more surveys-what next? Healthcare is never...

• Social media checklist

  The question today for healthcare facilities isn't, "Does your facility use social...

Issue 6, June 1, 2012 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Stage 2 Meaningful Use requirements: What you need to know

  If your hospital doesn't plan to take advantage of government financial incentives for those who...

• Privacy, security concerns high in HIEs

  A Boston resident is at a New York Yankees game in the Bronx cheering on his beloved Boston Red...

• Bringing it all together: A Recovery Auditor checklist

  Managing Recovery Auditor preparation, requests, ­denials, and appeals entails the work of many...

• Quiz: How well do you know your ICD-10-CM chapters?

  Use this quiz to test coding staff members.

• Medicaid HCACs mean more conditions may go unpaid

  Starting in July, hospitals can risk their reimbursement under the Medicaid program for conditions...

Issue 5, May 1, 2012 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Feeling the heat: Providers share their experience with Recovery Audit Program and other auditors

  Each year HCPro's Revenue Cycle ­Institute reports on the experience of providers related to...

• HIPAA Q&A: Facility directories, opt-outs, and discussing personal health information

  Test staff knowledge of HIPAA with these questions.

• Prepare now for ICD-10 coding productivity challenges

  Many HIM directors and coding managers are aware of the decrease in productivity that is...

• Get to know the 2012 ICD-10-CM guideline changes

  The additions and revisions to the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting in 2012...

• Hire an ICD-10 educator: Sample job description

  Here's one wheel that HIM directors and ­managers may not need to reinvent: an ICD-10 educator...

Issue 4, April 1, 2012 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Scanning productivity: How do you match up?

  When it comes to the scanning function, how does your facility compare to those of your peers? To...

• Quiz: ICD-10-CM codes for symptoms, signs, and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings

  Use this quiz to test coding staff members.

• Manage EHR access and audit controls

  HIPAA requires implementation of technical policies and procedures for electronic information...

• Can I get a EHR reality check, please?

  While I was on one of my first consulting engagements in the early 1980s-when the pundits were...

• Comply with CMS' CoP for order authentication

  In November 2006, CMS published a final rule on the Conditions of Participation (CoP) for...

• Tips, strategies, and hints for achieving physician engagement in ICD-10-CM/PCS

  We hear about physician engagement across and throughout all healthcare settings almost...

• Avoid burnout and ease stress: Strategies every HIM director and manager should know

  From researching and implementing EHR systems to developing training and education plans for...

• Transitioning to an EHR: Three steps to consensus building

  2012 is upon us, and for many healthcare organization leaders, the ticking clock of healthcare...

Issue 3, March 1, 2012 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Consider dual coding in advance of ICD-10

  Most HIM directors have October 2013 looming in their minds as the ICD-10 implementation deadline...

• HIPAA Q&A: Privacy according to HIPAA, individual states, and your own facility

  Test staff knowledge of HIPAA with these questions from readers.

• Get ready for ICD-10 with a fracture coding case study

  ICD-10 will bring many changes, particularly when it comes to fracture coding. But practice will...

• Look toward the future: What you need to know about ICD-10 and principal diagnosis selection

  Some interesting changes are occurring with the implementation of ICD-10-CM that are going to...

• Manage privacy, security, and mobile devices. Really.

  Mobile devices are here to stay-so now you have to manage the risks.

Issue 2, February 1, 2012 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Reinvigorate EHR quality monitors for the new year

  HIM directors must renew efforts in the new year to ensure the effectiveness of EHR quality...

• Permanent RAC program changes and new Medicaid program and pre-bill audit demonstration under way

  Just when you thought you had your RAC processes in place, more changes appear on the horizon.

• Quiz: How well do you know your V codes?

  Use this quiz to test coding staff members.

• Get to know new ICD-10-CM coding conventions

  Coders must learn and adapt to several new conventions in ICD-10-CM. Consider the following.

• Take note of second-generation tracers

  First we had patient tracers, then system tracers, and now second-generation tracers! Wow!

• Revise your physician queries to prepare for ICD-10

  On October 1, 2013, the ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCSclassification systems will take effect, and should...

Issue 1, January 1, 2012 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• How you're doing with HIPAA compliance

  In November 2011 we asked readers all about their HIPAA compliance efforts, from training to HITECH...

• Manage the changing nature of HIM jobs

  Times are changing, and, most likely, so are the jobs of your HIM staff members.

• 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...

• Time for EHR New Year's resolutions ?

  Happy New Year! It's 2012-do you have your HIPAA version 5010 programming done?

• HIM's role in quality initiatives

  Value-based purchasing (VBP).

• HIPAA Q&A: Protecting and securing various types of patient information

  Test staff members' knowledge of HIPAA with these questions from readers.

Issue 1, February 23, 2012

• Critical Access Hospital Scanning Expectations and FTEs

  Critical Access Hospital Scanning Expectations and FTEs

• 25-99 Bed Hospital Scanning Expectations and FTEs

  25-99 Bed Hospital Scanning Expectations and FTEs

• 100-199 Bed Hospital Scanning Expectations and FTEs

  100-199 Bed Hospital Scanning Expectations and FTEs

• 200-299 Bed Hospital Scanning Expectations and FTEs

  200-299 Bed Hospital Scanning Expectations and FTEs

• 300-499 Bed Hospital Scanning Expectations and FTEs

  300-499 Bed Hospital Scanning Expectations and FTEs

• 500+ Bed Hospital Scanning Expectations and FTEs

  500+ Bed Hospital Scanning Expectations and FTEs