ICD-10 Monitor’s Talk Ten Tuesday interviews this week focused on the HIMSS annual conference and exhibition in New Orleans. AAPC Vice President of ICD-10 Training and Education Rhonda Buckholtz, CPC, CPMA, CPC-I, CGSC, COBGC, CPEDC, CENTC, was the featured special guest, offering insights on her conference presentation on ICD-10 and clinical documentation. Dr. Donald Rappe, CPC-A, also gave his perspective on the same subject as her co-presenter.
“We hear a lot… about payers that are making announcements that they’re not going to pay for unspecified codes or they’re going to reduce revenue if you continue to use them, so we want to make sure physicians are prepared for [ICD-10],” Ms. Buckholtz said. “Dr. Rappe and I went over some various clinical examples and provided some guidance towards physicians and working with them on their clinical documentation.”
“This business of ICD-10 creates a necessity for a team sport,” Dr. Rappe said. “Physicians and coders bring… different but very professional and complimentary skills sets to the table. As long as the two groups are talking together, this process and transition is going to go a lot more smoothly.”
At the end of the podcast, Ms. Buckholtz also summarized the HIMSS presentation given by AAPC National Advisory Board Member Dr. Stephen Spain, FAAFP, CPC, who spoke on the intersection of ICD-10 and meaningful use.
Listen to the archived podcast.
March 5th, 2013
An EHR that meets meaningful use certification requirements may not necessarily be able to connect and exchange data with all the entities providers want it to. Experts are now advising doctors to consider what data exchange they plan to implement and make sure the EHR they use is capable of meeting those needs. American Medical News recently interviewed Dixon Davis, vice president of business development at AAPC Physician Services, on EHRs and meaningful use.
“The exchange requirements EHRs must meet to be certified for meaningful use are limited mostly to exchange between one organization and another, not across multiple settings,” Davis says. “Physicians will need to talk with the organizations with whom they plan to exchange data — including labs, other practices, hospitals and health information organizations — to find out what capabilities their systems must have.”
Read the full article.
November 29th, 2012
Figliozzi and Co., an accounting firm based in Garden City, N.Y., has started post-payment audits for hospitals and eligible professionals who have claimed successful meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs). The process starts with a mailed letter sent from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to physicians who have received an incentive check, saying he or she is being audited. Practices are required to reply within two weeks upon receiving the letter. (more…)
September 12th, 2012
If you want to be compliant with Stage 2 meaningful use requirements, you can read the 672 page final rule released by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). Hospitals and other providers must satisfy these requirements to receive funding under the second phase of the federal electronic health record (EHR) incentive program. (more…)
On Aug. 23, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final rule for Stage 2 requirements and other changes to the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs. Stage 2 requirements are intended to increase health information exchange between providers and heighten patient engagement by giving patients secure online access to their personal health information (PHI). To ensure eligible professionals and hospitals understand these new requirements, CMS is hosting a national provider call on Thursday, Sept. 13, 2-3:30 ET.
On the agenda:
- Extension of Stage 1
- Changes to Stage 1 criteria for meaningful use
- Proposed Medicaid policies
- Stage 2 meaningful use overview
- Stage 2 clinical quality measures
- Medicare payment adjustment and exceptions
- Q&A
Register for the call on the CMS Upcoming National Provider Calls registration website. Registration will close at 12 pm the day of the call, or when available space has been filled, whichever comes first.
AAPC members can earn one continuing education unit (CEU) for participation. AAPC will accept your emailed confirmation and call description as proof of participation. Please retain a copy of your emailed confirmation for these calls as AAPC will request them for any conference call you entered into your CEU Tracker if you are chosen for CEU verification.