By: Carrie Pfeifle, BS, RHIT | Coding Audit Manager @ MRA Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) is also known as Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI). Medicare officially refers to this as TAVR/TAVI, but either single acronym is correct. TAVR is a transcatheter surgical procedure in which an aortic valve replacement is performed without removing the damaged native valve. In simple …
The FY 2020 IPPS final rule was released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) on August 2, 2019.[1] Below are five highlights to be aware of regarding changes to ICD-10-CM, ICD-10-PCS, and corresponding official guidelines in FY 2020. ICD-10-CM[2] Effective October 1, 2019 there are 273 new ICD-10-CM codes, 21 deleted ICD-10-CM codes and 30 ICD-10-CM code title …
MRA and YES HIM Consulting have partnered to delivery coding education to healthcare organizations across the United States. For over 30 years, MRA is known for delivering operational efficiency, service excellence to organizational integration to Revenue Cycle, HIM, Compliance and Cancer Registry areas in healthcare organizations. YES HIM Consulting is a premier Health Information Management (HIM) auditing, coding, and education …
Do you ever feel like by the time your organization and coders get used to one regulation, the rules change? These frequent changes and the rapid pace of healthcare technology and trends make it critically important to ensure compliance and ongoing training and education is provided for coding professionals. Judging from the sheer volume of codes can be mind-boggling. There …
MRA is known for delivering operational efficiency, service excellence to organizational integration to HIM, Compliance and Cancer Registry areas in healthcare organizations. MRA continues to drive expansion by adding Mike Hodgson to the Senior Management team as Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing. Mike Hodgson has served in various executive positions including tenures with Panacea, CareerStep, Medical Staffing Network, QuadraMed …
Being a cancer registrar is a tough job. Most hospitals see a diverse patient population. A registrar needs to accurately summarize each cancer patient’s history, diagnosis, treatment, and health status while following mandated guidelines. This requires analyzing and synthesizing information from many different resources. Registrars provide critical data that is used in the management of cancer. This data provides essential …
Internal coding audits are an important tool in any hospital’s compliance program. They illuminate potential areas for corrections prior to scrutiny by payers and regulators, which can help reduce payer denials and protect revenue. Additionally, performing regular, ongoing internal auditing can improve clinical documentation and coding initiatives, enhance data integrity, and increase communication across the organization. Not only do they …
Simply mentioning a coding audit sends a shiver up a coder’s spine. The thought of scrutinizing their coding quality, as they strive to balance quality and productivity, can bring dread to even the most seasoned coder. But conducting internal or external coding audits are an important part of ensuring quality and regulatory compliance for hospitals and health systems. Knowing these …
As we discussed last week, over the past decade, there has been a tremendous amount of consolidation in healthcare. For hospital-owned physician practices specifically, we have seen the number rise from 35,700 in July 2012 to 80,000 in January 2018. Over the same period, there was over a 70 percent increase in the number of physicians employed by hospitals …
One of the key trends to emerge from last month’s JP Morgan Healthcare Conference was the shifting mindsets of hospitals. For the last decade, hospitals have had a defensive mindset; acquiring or merging with smaller hospitals and physician practices to outpace their competitors and grow top line revenue. But to receive the full payoff of this consolidation, hospitals need to …