Search results for: basic
NEJM 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 More5 Basic Practices to Strengthen Your Employer-Employee Relationship
Your boss is a critical part of your everyday life. They have the authority to hire and fire, and they may dictate what work you do throughout the day. Because of this necessary and pivotal relationship, you want to have the best working partnership with your boss. Here are five ways to be the employee…
Read MoreA very bad start to the year for Medicare Advantage; whistleblowers and government officials expose questionable risk adjustment coding practices
By Brian Murphy This has been a terrible start to the year for Medicare Advantage. Senator Chuck Grassley’s report “How UnitedHealth Group Puts the Risk in Medicare Advantage Risk Adjustment” landed like a bombshell on Jan. 12. It revealed the extent of UHG’s “robust diagnosis capture workforce,” from advanced analytics to in-home health assessments…
Read MoreFrom Encephalopathy to Edema: Talking chart review with Dr. Tarman Aziz
Listen to the episode here. I’m consistently surprised at how few CDI or IP coding professionals talk about their most basic job function. The very reason they are hired, and what most do for eight hours a day. I’m talking about chart review. Go on Linkedin or Facebook and it’s rarely discussed. Yet it’s … everything. Nuanced, complex, clinical, critical to the quality of financial health of hospitals. It’s how patient acuity is expressed in coded data, how hospitals get paid, and why CDI and coding professionals are employed. …
Read MoreMission-Driven Medicine: Dr. Pablo Buitron de la Vega’s SDOH crusade, from capture to care
Listen to the episode here. Social Determinants of Health, or SDOH, are a buzzword these days—but often little more. We acknowledge their importance, but actual progress on capture (and subsequent patient support) has been slow. To be fair real barriers including technological limitations and limited financial incentives stand in the way. But my current…
Read MoreWant to be a better CDI or coding professional? You must read the chart
By Brian Murphy You’ve got to read. Whether it’s a blog post, a book, or in the case of the professions I serve, the patient’s chart. Reading results in comprehension and eventually, understanding. It takes time, but it’s time well-spent. I believe very strongly in this, which is why in my ACDIS…
Read MoreTonya Motsinger: Surviving and thriving in an evolving CDI landscape
Listen to the episode here: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/c6FFYxoXZMb With 25 years’ experience in medical/surgical, critical care, and emergency department medicine, Tonya Motsinger has seen her share of crises. COVID-19 was a crisis of a far larger scale. The pandemic wreaked havoc not only on patients, but her CDI department, resulting in staff shortages. Today OhioHealth’s System…
Read MoreFive 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 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 MoreRx for rural community health: CDI on a shoestring with Jennifer Cummins
Listen to the full episode here: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/uVBMHJadvIb Small community hospitals are the backbone of healthcare for most of the country, even today in this era of sprawling healthcare organizations and massive mergers. But while they’re critical to the health of our nation, resources are often scarce, and CDI is no exception. Jennifer…
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