Phishing: Help Good Employees Avoid the Hook of a Cybersecurity Nightmare
Phishing fools the best employees. Impersonation has become slick – emails look nearly identical to those you’d get from a bank, shipping service, or online retailer. Even government agencies get used to perpetuate the scam. 6 Phishing-wary Best Practices Recognize...
CODING Q&A with RMC: Can coders interpret lab values?
CODING QUESTION: Dear Sir, I would like to know If physician has added in assessment Hb-9g/dl or lipid high, as coders can we code it as anemia or hyperlipidemia. As per my knowledge coders are not supposed to interpret the lab values. I couldn’t find any reference...
Outpatient CDI Query Guidance Released
ACDIS has released an official stance on the outpatient CDI query process. Their position paper called, “Queries in outpatient CDI: Developing a compliant, effective process” addresses the significant differences between inpatient CDI and outpatient CDI. This...
Digital Pill Development Allows Monitoring of Patient Compliance
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a digital pill — a medication implanted with a sensor that can indicate when the medication is taken. This is a significant advancement in the field of digital devices to monitor medicine-taking. Non-compliance with...
Benefits of an Outpatient CDI Program
Outpatient CDI has become the most recent CDI buzz word, and these programs are proving to be beneficial. One important aspect of Outpatient CDI is the capture of Hierarchial Condition Codes (HCCs) as the shift to value based care and Medical Advantage Plans risk...
What could ever go wrong with people using portable media?
Well, the royal family’s security could be compromised, for one. If you missed it, Heathrow Airport, one of the busiest airports and Britain’s largest, is scrambling to understand how a memory stick (aka thumb drive) with extremely sensitive information ended up on a...
The Burden of Quality Reporting Revisited
A new report showed health systems spend nearly $39 billion a year on administrative activities related to regulatory compliance, according to a study released today by the AHA (American Hospital Association). The average hospital spends $7.6 million annually to...
Building a Compliance Program: Where Do I Start?
If you are new to compliance or new to building a compliance program, you may be asking yourself “where do I start?” As an educator and compliance professional, I’ve heard this question many times and even asked it myself. Even those who have been compliance officers...
HURRICANE HARVEY: How to help and where to donate…
Our hearts, thoughts and prayers are with our friends in Texas affected by Hurricane Harvey. The aftermath of Harvey has overwhelmed Houston and the surrounding areas with much heartache, loss and devastation. Many of us feel the urge to lend a helping hand, here...
The Importance of Auditing and Follow-up – points to ponder
As a compliance professional, auditing and monitoring is a key component to an effective compliance program. In the past I used to ask my students which of the Seven Elements of an Effective Compliance Program they felt was the most important (which is my first point,...