News
ACDIS/AHIMA release new query practice brief, are you ready?
By Brian Murphy The new ACDIS/AHIMA Guidelines for Achieving a Compliant Query Practice are out. Why care about this new guidance? The Guidelines are not law or regulation, but they are the standard that the two organizations recommend everyone follow. And that means literally everyone involved in the query process—CDI and coding of course, but…
Read MorePopulation Health: Eight Strategies for Success
By Brian Murphy Note: This is the second in a two-part series on how mid-revenue cycle professionals can successfully operate in population health. View part 1 here. Population health is the current buzzword in healthcare. But do you know how to succeed in these environments? Population health initiatives often stall due to silos within the…
Read MorePopulation health Q&A: Better Patient Outcomes at Lower Cost Requires Risk-Sharing
By Brian Murphy What is population health, this buzz-phrase we keep hearing about in the hospital mid-revenue cycle. And, why should we care about it? I sat down with Jason Jobes, Senior Vice President of Consulting for Norwood, to hammer out some high-level concepts including definitions, and why and how organizations enter into agreements with…
Read MoreCigna’s OIG Takedown a Thing of Beauty in an Ugly War
By Brian Murphy Many on the provider side of healthcare—including coding/billing/CDI/case management professionals—are not the biggest fans of Medicare Advantage (MA), aka, the semi-privatization of Medicare. MA has been under the spotlight recently for denying medically necessary care, as well as failing to demonstrate better outcomes despite charging higher premiums. But I have to hand…
Read MoreNorwood welcomes Jason Jobes, new Senior Vice President of Consulting
Norwood, a company specializing in staffing and consulting services to support the hospital mid-revenue cycle, is pleased to announce the hiring of Jason Jobes. In his role as Senior Vice President (SVP) of Consulting, Jobes will help to drive innovation and growth of Norwood’s consulting arm. Norwood’s consulting services seek to improve the efficiency of…
Read MoreTop 10 strategies to land your first coding or CDI job
Brian Murphy I’m a newly-minted CPC-A, but every employer wants a CPC with a couple years of coding experience! What do I do? I’m an RN who wants to leave the bedside and get into CDI, but everyone wants a CCDS! I’m stuck…can you help!?! If these pleas sound familiar to you, well, it’s because…
Read MoreRemote vs. Onsite Staffing: The Great Debate
Should mid-revenue professionals (coding, CDI, case management/utilization review) return to the hospital to resume their work onsite, now that the COVID-19 pandemic is lifting? Or, is remote work here to stay? You did not think there would be a pat answer, did you? Remote work is now a reality throughout the mid-revenue cycle, particularly in…
Read MoreIncreasing Medicare Advantage audits, lawsuits a troubling trend, but also a CDI and coding opportunity
By Brian Murphy The past year and in particular the last few weeks have seen an alarming uptick in the number of Medicare Advantage plans under scrutiny. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is taking a close look at how these plans, which include the likes of insurance giants Aetna, Humana, and Anthem, are collecting…
Read MoreAnnual Wellness Visits: Heart of a value-based CDI program
Once you’ve put in the considerable legwork to get your value-based/ambulatory CDI program approved, and you’re ready to begin, where do you start? As noted in our previous article in this series, we recommend you start small. A great way to begin is with a prospective review of patients coming in for their Annual Wellness…
Read MoreArtificial Intelligence a Great Tool, but no Replacement for Human Intelligence
Is artificial intelligence (AI) coming for your jobs, CDI and coding professionals? The answer is no. Not in any foreseeable future, at least. AI has been billed as a cure-all or a panacea, by some. It’s not. Smart, clinically minded CDI and coding professionals with critical thinking skills are still needed to ensure full and…
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