News
Five Emerging Mid-Revenue Cycle Roles
By Brian Murphy New job functions will be needed to meet the changing nature of healthcare delivery and reimbursement. And soon. Here are five. These are my predictions but I feel good about them. Note: Many/most of these exist in some form or fashion now, but I believe the demand will grow, and explain why.…
Read MoreHCC Best Practice Advisory (BPA) Alerts a Hot Topic in Compliant Condition Capture
By Jason Jobes, SVP, Norwood Solutions HOT TOPIC QUESTION: Are you using Epic HCC BPAs (or similar tools) and are you worried about their appropriateness or compliance? DISCLOSURE: Norwood does not possess/sell any technology that competes with use of the Epic BPA or currently partner with organizations that have similar functionality. This question is aimed…
Read MoreClean Up Your Problem Lists to Facilitate Accurate Coding
By Brian Murphy Per CMS, a problem list is “a list of current and active diagnoses as well as past diagnoses relevant to the current care of the patient.” But they’re often much more. Physicians use them as a place to think in ink about ongoing and active conditions or store other summarized patient data. …
Read MoreBreaking into CDI as a Foreign Medical Graduate: Eight Strategies for Success
By Brian Murphy Foreign medical graduates (FMG) can make for wonderful CDI professionals—but breaking into the profession poses a unique challenge. Many FMGs emigrate to the U.S. to pursue a career in medicine, but are faced with long odds (30,000 applications for 7000-8000 open residency slots, per one data point I found) and defer that…
Read MoreHIV Infections and Principal Diagnosis Selection
By Joanne Wilson, RN, ASN, CCDS, Senior Director, Solutions, Norwood This article marks the beginning of a learning mini-series to address conditions commonly needing clarification for novice and expert CDI staff. We hope you enjoy them! Joanne welcomes your questions or comments at joanne@norwood.com. The first topic in this miniseries is Human Immunodeficiency Disease (HIV) infections.…
Read MoreCompliant Chronic Condition Reporting Requires Provider Documentation of Ongoing Care or Management
By Brian Murphy Chronic condition reporting is more important than ever these days, but also a subject of increasing scrutiny. When a patient comes in for an outpatient visit with a chronic condition, should we report it? The TL;DR answer (to me at least) appears to be that it is the provider’s responsibility to document…
Read MoreNEJM Study: AI not Ready to Perform Basic Medical Coding, Let Alone Replace People
In the battle of artificial intelligence (AI) vs. humans, score one for humanity. Yeah, a provocative opening line, and probably needlessly so. AI is after all supposed to be a tool that allows us to do more and/or focus on higher order tasks, resulting in increased efficiency and output. I just don’t happen…
Read MoreTransforming Episode Accountability Model (TEAM) Reconfirms CMS Commitment to Bundled Payments and Value-Based Care
By Brian Murphy Every time I think bundled payments are out, they drag me back in. I like the concept. We know that fragmented care can lead to complications in recovery, avoidable hospitalization, and increased spending. Under bundled payment models, providers assume accountability for the quality and costs of care delivered during a complete episode,…
Read MoreKDIGO Announces new Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Management of CKD
By Brian Murphy According to the ACDIS 2023 CDI Week Industry Overview Survey, kidney disease was ranked the fifth highest denied diagnosis (29.7% of respondents) after sepsis, respiratory failure, malnutrition, and encephalopathy. So it behooves you to know the latest and greatest clinical practice guidelines from the authoritative body who establishes them. Because you can…
Read MoreGrow Your Mid-Revenue Cycle Career by Building Your Skillset
By Brian Murphy Build skills. Because you never know where they might take you, or where you’ll want to go. Even if you’re happy today, you don’t know what tomorrow may bring. But with a strong set of transferrable skills, your options are open. Over time we can get complacent, burned out. Your job may…
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