By Thomas G Tiller II
COO | Tiller-Hewitt HealthCare Strategies
Have you ever experienced a violent situation while on the job? If not, it is likely that you will at some point in your career. It is even more common than you might think. OSHA reports revealed that “From 2002 to 2013, incidents of serious workplace violence were four times more common in healthcare than in the private industry on average.”1 This includes physical or threats of assault directed toward personnel at work or on duty. According to U.S. News and World Report, “Healthcare workers suffer more workplace injuries than any other profession, with about 654,000 harmed per year on the job.”2
By: Steven Kleinberg EVP, COO, CardChoice International
“I think the medical billing field chose me instead of me choosing it,” said Tammy Cooper, a newly certified coding professional in Rochester, NY. “I started as a per diem evening receptionist after my husband urged me to get out of the house and use my brain instead of spending all day, every day with our two toddler daughters as a stay at home mom.”
Health care providers are bearing more financial risk than ever before as more commercial and government payer arrangements progress. With more Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) moving into downside risk in 2019 and many more medical groups focusing on Medicare Advantage, CPC plus, and customized commercial capitation deals, the risk adjustment of their population matters significantly. For providers and medical coding personnel, proper documentation and specificity of a patient's illness and burden of disease is now paramount.
Practice Management Institute® (PMI) has set the dates for its largest learning event of the year in San Antonio, October 10-12. Medical practice administrators, coding, reimbursement and auditing professionals, and compliance officers are encouraged to attend. Participants will learn strategies for professional growth and guidelines for working smart in today’s complex administrative environment.
Contract review is a delicate dance but doing your homework and negotiating for a better deal helps to achieve a better outcome, says healthcare attorney, Heidi Kocher.
By David T. Womack, President/CEO of Practice Management Institute
Billing problems are an ongoing point of frustration in medical offices. Errors and denials can quickly snowball, creating big revenue cycle problems. One study from BMC Health Services Research found that time spent coding, filing claims and obtaining prior authorizations, cost the U.S. healthcare system as much as $471 billion in 2012.[1]
Why We Host: An Interview with Lisa Lee, Senior Manager, Outreach Development for University Health System
MAY 15, 2017 -- As many as 80 percent of all medical claims submitted to insurance carriers contain mistakes estimated at $68 billion (1). Approximately 55 percent of evaluation and management (E/M) claims are incorrectly coded resulting in $6.7 billion in improper Medicare payments.(2) Providers looking to avoid lost revenue and serious consequences are raising the training standards of its administrative staff seeking out those who have completed specialized training and certification offered by Practice Management Institute (PMI).
Medical coding errors can cause considerable damage to both patients and providers in the form of inaccurate medical bills and lost revenue for the medical office. The best practice is to employ well-trained and qualified staff to ensure that correct claims are submitted for reimbursement the first time.
Zika first hit the Americas in March of 2015, from tourists who traveled to Brazil to watch the World Cup. According to the CDC, as of August 31, 2016, there have been 2,722 cases of Zika in the U.S., 35 of those cases were contracted within the country. All 35 cases were contracted in Florida. It is predicted that Zika will spread most prevalently in locations where Brazilians often travel to and where the Aedes Mosquito that carries the Zika virus lives.