Making changes on the fly is never easy in any industry, especially healthcare – figuring out what platform to use, training staff and patients on how to operate video conferences, but more importantly, will you get paid? With the Corona Pandemic turning our revenue cycle upside-down due to the cancelling of most elective procedures, it’s more important than ever that …
Three Ways to Deal With a Coding Surge From Corona
Do you have a Corona surge coding plan in place? In this environment it’s hard to know what tomorrow will bring. If you watch the news, all you’ll see is a lack of hospital beds and overwhelming patient volumes. Meanwhile, hospitals and clinics around the country are laying off staff because elective and non-emergent procedures have been cancelled to clear …
Are you Charging Correctly for Infusions & Injections?
By Marianne Loeffler, COC, CPC, CPC-I, CRCR, MRA Charge Audit Validator Infusions & Injections are confusing – even on a good day. Facilities often leave money on the table – and a lot of it – simply because knowledge and resources may be limited. This article will briefly discuss the key elements to be aware of when reviewing documentation to …
Coding Tips on TAVR Procedure
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 …
Top 5 Highlights FY 2020 Coding Changes
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®, Partner to Deliver Expert Coding Education
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 …
Why Coding Update Education is Important and the Benefits
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 …
Building on MRA’s Revenue Cycle and HIM Strength – Mike Hodgson Joins the Senior Management Team
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 …
The Ultimate List of Cancer Registry Resources for 2019
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 …
Back to the Basics: How to Do an Internal Coding Audit
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 …