My last blog post focused on physician profiling. Time and time again, I’ve seen that once physicians understand how clinical documentation impacts their pay, profiling, medical/legal risk and severity of illness reporting, they realize it is in...Read More »
Q:Our CDI program is three years old and our administration still questions our productivity goals. Initially we set benchmarks at 90-95% coverage rate of Medicare/Managed Medicare; 20-25% query rate; 90% response rate and 80% agree rate. Since census varies, we also...Read More »
Q:My question has to do with coding guidelines regarding secondary diagnosis followed by contrasting/comparative diagnoses. Let me explain a particular scenario. This was a two-day stay over the weekend. The patient was admitted for further evaluation with a history and...Read More »
Determining when to seek clarification regarding patients with altered mental status can be tricky business. Patients who already have established dementia and are now off their baseline with an acute metabolic disorder such as UTI, physicians are typically...Read More »
For providers, the days of earning full Medicare payment by simply submitting complete and accurate information are drawing to a close. In 2013, Medicare will begin paying healthcare providers and facilities based on the quality of care provided, not...Read More »
Q: For some reason, I was under the impression that a query could be answered by any healthcare provider, even one just doing a review of the case (a fellow hospitalist, for instance). I know that a treatment provider is, of course, the way to go but was wondering about this as...Read More »