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Welcome to the medical billing blog containing news and articles relating to medical billing, medical coding, ICD, HIPAA and practice management functions.
2004-2024 Celebrating 20 Years of Healthcare RCM Articles
The Blog Currently Contains 1,265+ Healthcare Articles
HHS Finalizes Strategies to Combat EHR Clinician Burden
“Divisions of HHS worked together to develop strategies for addressing the four main causes of clinician burden stemming from EHR use. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a set of strategies, Strategy on Reducing Regulatory and Administrative Burden Relating to the Use of Health IT and EHRs, aimed at combating health IT-related burdens on healthcare providers. The report fulfills a provision in the 21st Century Cures Act requiring HHS, the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to produce a report for Congress on the strategies and recommendations to aid this overwhelming epidemic. Clinician burden is primarily linked to …
What does a study of medical coders reveal about Artificial Intelligence?
“Greater attention to human factors and new techniques may change the way artificial intelligence is trained with small data, according to an article published by Harvard Business Review. Researchers from Accenture wanted to see if opportunities lay within smaller data sets that go unused by organizations. For their study, the researchers focused on annotations added to medical charts by medical coders. With their tens of annotations on each of several thousand charts, the annotations are much smaller compared to data sets with a billion columns and rows. In the experiment, the coders studied RNs who regularly used AI in their coding processes to link medical conditions with proper codes. The …
EHR Usability Issues Increase After Implementation and Optimization
“Most believe EHR usability issues happen at implementation. However, the majority of EHR usability problems occur after implementation when the EHR is continuously optimized, according to a study published in the BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making. “Implementation of the EHR is not limited to a single event in time,” wrote the researchers. “Rather, the technology changes when newer features are added, or interfaces are redesigned. These upgrades may improve functionality, but they also require physicians to adapt to changes beyond the initial implementation.” “Users are required to continually learn how to use the newer system and then to incorporate these upgrades into their clinical workflow, often with negative work …
Billing quality is medical quality – 5 physician-backed metrics to consider
“New billing measures could help providers give their patients a quality billing experience, which two physicians argued in JAMA is a type of medical quality. In a viewpoint article, Simon Mathews, MD, and Martin Makary, MD, of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, offered five metrics providers could use to measure whether patients are receiving a quality billing experience. Here are the five metrics: 1. Itemized bills: Are patients always given an itemized bill that explains charges in simple language? 2. Price transparency: Can patients get real prices for shoppable, elective services? 3. Service quality: Are billing representatives available to promptly speak with patients about any concerns …
3 EHR Usability and Optimization Fixes That Address Burnout
“There are many positives associated with EHRs. However, EHR usability is a common negative among EHR users, which leads to clinician burnout. As the calendar flips to 2020, technological advancements in the EHR are key to addressing this epidemic that makes its way around medical facilities throughout the country. According to a study completed in a partnership between the Mayo Clinic and the American Medical Association (AMA), researchers found that EHR usability was largely graded an “F” when evaluated on a traditional letter grade scale, and that failing grade was strongly tied to high clinician burnout scores. “A new study issued today found electronic medical records (EHRs) – as currently …
