Author Archive

Biggest ICD-10 obstacle and how to avoid it?

“What is the biggest ICD-10 obstacle and how do you avoid it?” is an article by Kyle Murphy, PhD that gives some insight into how the biggest obstacle for the ICD-10 transition is still testing… Excerpt: “As the deadline for complying with ICD-10 draws nearer, the concerns about industry readiness continue to mount. And despite renewed campaigns by the likes of the American Hospital Association (AHA), healthcare organizations and providers still face the reality of doing business on October 1 and beyond. Being ready for the ICD-10 transition is the end result of putting in the appropriate amount of preparation which itself begins with an in-depth assessment of all …

Is ICD-10 Going to Cause Some Level of Insanity?

“Is ICD-10 Going to Provoke a Level of Healthcare Insanity?” is an article by Melissa Clark that gives some insight into her opinions as to how ICD-10 is going to possibly affect the healthcare industry… Excerpt: “The ICD 10 is going to result in super bills that contain diagnostic codes that are so in-depth the bills are going to be beyond the point of usefulness in the detail provided. In addition, it’s going to be more time consuming to complete the process. Here is a good example. A child receives a bite. The medical professional will code the injury according to the newest breakdown, but when the claim now contains …

ICD-10 Education Must Focus on Documentation

With October 1 coming faster than I think we all realize, I want to talk about an article that I think is a great one for Providers. “ICD-10 education must focus on clinical documentation improvement” is an article by Jennifer Bresnick at EHR Intelligence that explains some of the strategies that will help physicians and coders understand what their goals need to be, and how to accomplish those goals ahead of the ICD-10 implementation date in October… Excerpt: “What seems to be the best method for approaching ICD-10 education for physicians? We actually started ICD-10 education about 18 months ago, and we started with steady, monthly educational sessions that would …

Why ICD-10 is not Just About the Codes

“Why ICD-10 is not just a coding project” is an article over at EHR Intelligence that makes a good point about how the transition to ICD-10 is not just about the new coding system, it’s more about being able to properly document encounters… Excerpt: “If you think ICD-10 is all about new codes, you are dead wrong. ICD-10 is really about “documentation” ─ we clinicians have learned from day one that, “If it’s not documented, it wasn’t done.” This situation is even truer in the ICD-10 world, where the coder must build the ICD-10 code based on the presenting story of that patient’s visit from admissions to discharge. With all …

ICD-10 Transition, How Much Will it Cost a Small Practice?

Practice Fusion has provided a great article explaining some of the factors to consider when assessing what the ICD-10 transition will cost your practice. As the article states, it will be considerably less costly to become proactive with your training and preparation sooner than later… Excerpt: “As much as we’d love to, we can’t give a simple dollar amount that applies to all small practices – the number of factors involved in calculating this cost makes a “blanket” number unrealistic. But we can say this… Let’s consider a small practice (two providers, one office manager, and one coder/biller) that really “does it right” — they use cloud-based software to save …

ICD-10 Resources Including Books, Information Sources

HiTech Answers has provided a great article showcasing some very informative ICD-10 resources. The resources provided are some of the best we’ve seen at assisting medical providers in their ICD-10 preparations… Roberta’s Excerpt: “Here are some resources to help you begin the transition to ICD-10. 5 Steps to Jump Start Your ICD-10 Plan Today, webinar on Thursday, Jan 23 at noon ET. Sponsored by CareCloud – The transition to ICD-10 is the most significant change to the business of healthcare in decades. So while making the switch can feel overwhelming, the combination of thorough planning, the right technology and a trustworthy staff can minimize disruption to practice operations. This webinar …

Is It Time To Prescribe Some ICD-10 Panic?

“Maybe it’s time to prescribe a healthy dose of panic” is an article by Carl Natale outlining the results of a survey showing that providers aren’t panicking when it comes to ICD-10. But this survey also shows that providers are not very far along in their ICD-10 preparations… Carl’s Excerpt: “I don’t normally advise panic, but maybe it’s time to make it part of our ICD-10 preparations. About 87 percent of the healthcare professionals who answered Navicure’s ICD-10 readiness survey aren’t panicking. They’re actually confident that they will be ICD-10 compliant by Oct. 1: 22 percent are very confident 23 percent are confident 42 percent are somewhat confident 9 percent …

ICD-10 Prep Steps for Medical Providers

“ICD-10 Prep Steps for Medical Providers” is an article posted to our corporate blog by CEO Melissa Clark outlining the steps to be taken by providers with the upcoming transition to ICD-10 in Oct… Melissa’s Excerpt: “As a Provider, ICD-10 preparation, and the subsequent upcoming transition can be a bit daunting. The first thing I recommend you do is to assign one individual to be the driving force behind the process and to oversee the details. This could be your coder, office manager, biller or anyone in your staff with the drive to make it as smooth as possible.” Authored by: Melissa Clark, CCS-P on OMG LLC’s Corporate Blog Read …