New CMS claims-based surgical quality measure is in effect; are you ready?

By Brian Murphy   In the 2025 IPPS final rule CMS finalized its proposal to replace PSI-4 (Death Rate Among Surgical Inpatients with Serious Treatable Complications) with a new claims-based measure: The Thirty-day Risk-Standardized Death Rate among Surgical Inpatients with Complications (Failure-to-Rescue).   In fact, this change has already taken place.   This new measure…

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Moving up and leaving behind: Robin Jones on growing into leadership

Listen to the episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6I6v7JrBwt8Xf73RfWmBGF?si=cHXeDeKeSWiZoyLfyoh5Ag Robin Jones moved to Florida at the tail end of 2017 to pursue a burgeoning career in CDI. And ever since has done nothing but climb the professional ladder. Leaving behind her home in Cincinatti Ohio and a decorated career in CDI at Mercy Health, Robin started over as…

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OIG report on mechanical ventilation raises compliance red flags

By Brian Murphy   Medicare improperly paid hospitals an estimated $79 million for patients who received mechanical ventilation.   Is your healthcare organization among them?   The OIG released a new report taking aim at MS-DRGs 207 and 870. It selected for review a random, stratified sample of 250 claims submitted between 2015-2021 with payments…

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Make ethics the top of your operating set of principles

By Brian Murphy    ACDIS recently updated its Code of Ethics. It’s worth reading; I’ve linked to it below.    Even if you’re an industry old-timer I recommend a refresher, to remind yourself what should be at the top of your operating set of principles.   We can debate the finer points of ethics as…

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Norwood ranks No. 682 on 2024 Inc. 5000 list

2024 inc

For the 2nd straight year, Norwood makes the cut with three-year revenue growth of 694%   NEW YORK, August 13, 2024 – Inc. revealed today that Norwood ranks No. 682 on the 2024 Inc. 5000, its annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. This prestigious ranking provides a data-driven look at the most…

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Entrepreneurial aspirations

Entrepreneurial aspirations

Listen to the program here: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/K75pfH3WTLb  Our two-part “Podcast on the Pirogue” miniseries concludes in this installment of Off the Record, recorded live in the backwoods of Pierre Part, Louisiana.  Here I wrest back my traditional host seat (after the takeover in part 1) and interview Jason Jobes, Senior Vice President of Solutions at Norwood,…

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Meet MEAT criteria to shore up your risk adjustment coding against denial

By Joanne Wilson, RN, ASN, CCDS, Senior Director, Solutions Monitoring, evaluating, assessing, or treating—also known as MEAT—is a well-known and helpful concept organizations and coding professionals should use in the risk adjustment space. Adequate MEAT criteria can shore up claims from denial and prevent costly takebacks from auditing agencies—and remove the bullseye from your organization’s…

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Origin Stories

off the record

Listen to the full episode here: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/v3FVAF0cILb I’ve hosted the Off the Record podcast since September 2022. Over that time I’ve recorded dozens of interviews with scores of great guests, with episode 50 right around the corner. But I’ve never had the microphone turned on myself. Until now. This past April I was hanging out…

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