The RAC program was fully under way in 2010, and providers continue to struggle with it as the year draws to a close. This year’s RAC Preparedness Benchmarking survey had 459 respondents representing hospitals of all sizes from all four RAC regions. Region C was the most responsive region, with...Read More »
The Hospital Compare website, updated on Dec. 11, contains three new inpatient measures. These include Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) Infection 9 (urinary catheter removed on postoperative day one or two) and two new structural measures: participation in a systematic clinical data...Read More »
When evaluating overall compliance within a CDI department, Lynne Spryszak, RN, CCDS, CPC-A, CDI education director for HCPro, Inc., in Danvers, MA, says that CDI department managers should:
Try not to confine your reviews to a particular payer. Although everyone
One analysis I particularly like is a metric I refer to as chart value. I calculate for the entire program as well as for the individual CDI specialist. I believe it helps to partially level comparison among different clinical areas. For example,...Read More »
by Joel Moorhead, MD, PhD, CPC, and Diana Williams, BS, CPC, CCS-P, CPMA
The ICD-9 chapter-specific guidelines for neoplasms (Section 1.C.2) provides guidance for coding and sequencing of complications associated with malignancies. This section in the ICD-9-CM Manual ...Read More »
The National Quality Forum (NQF) published a draft report updating the NQF-endorsed Serious Reportable Events in Healthcare: A Consensus Report. The new report includes an updated list of serious reportable events (SREs) that includes 25 updated SREs and four new SREs, including the...Read More »
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) considered a draft recommendation from its chair, Glenn M. Hackbarth, JD, calling for a full “market basket” update of 2.6% for fiscal year 2012 inpatient hospital payments, AHA News Now reported on December 2. Hackbarth’s proposal comes...Read More »
CMS sought comments from healthcare providers regarding proposed implementation of accountable care organizations (ACOs). ACOs are a collaboration of various providers who work together to manage and coordinate care for Medicare beneficiaries and, in return, may receive payments for shared...Read More »
