Hayes' Healthcare IT Blog

By Anita Archer, CPC
I went online and submitted my comment in support of the ICD-10 implementation date of October 1, 2014. It wasn’t painful, nor was it time consuming. It was, however, something that I am passionate about. It felt good to do it.  

By Mary Charnes, RN
Electronic health records (EHRs) are being rolled out to primary care and specialty care across the U.S. Standardization is important. It is also important to ensure that each specialty has what it needs to perform optimally. One group that has unique needs is obstetrics. 

By Pete Butler
I was playing golf with a physician recently and we started talking about coding.  He described his approach. He said he rarely chooses a level 4 or 5 office visit. Instead, he sticks to the “middle of the road” coding at level 3. I asked if that was because he was concerned about being flagged for a federal audit. He replied, “No, I just want to keep the internal billing compliance auditors off my doorstep!” Needless to say, I shanked my ball on the drive!

By Glenda Wickus
The lion’s share of EMR focus is usually on implementation. However, it is just as important to plan for optimization after the go-live.  Once your users are over the initial shock and settled in the EMR routine, they will be ready to learn the tips and tricks to make them faster and more efficient. Here are five low-cost optimization ideas:

By Robert Freedman
Accurate documentation will be critical for reimbursement under ICD-10.  Underspecified documentation will become a bottleneck and will impact the revenue cycle and increase denials. Despite the ICD-10 delay, physician training should start now, and billing compliance and auditing staff can help. Here are some suggestions:

By Angela Hunsberger
Due to external industry factors, such as ICD-10 and Meaningful Use, offices across the nation are driven to modify parts of their Practice Management (PM) and Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems. This is an excellent time to assess your entire system setup and seek software optimization opportunities.

By Robyn O’Connell

Some healthcare organizations’ payments are down by 15-20% after their 5010 go-live. If you were on the 5010 team at one of these organizations, you may be wondering what went wrong. Furthermore, the delay by CMS means that the project will continue through July – BUT your resources are scheduled to move on to other projects. How could this happen? After all:

By Denise Szigeti

You have decided to move forward with an EHR for your organization. Perhaps you are involved in the vendor selection process, or have selected your vendor and are about to sign the contract. What should you be doing in your organization to prepare for this change?

by Robin Tardif

Electronic health records (EHRs) are a great tool for prescribing medications. Many have programmed allergy and contraindication checking. However, these systems’ accuracy relies on the data being entered correctly. Accuracy also depends on system administrators keeping the medication databases updated. Without accurate patient information and updated medication lists, it can be very easy to prescribe medications that could harm, or even kill, the patient they are intended to help.

By Robin Tardif

Electronic health records (EHRs) systems are a great innovation, creating safer care and the ability to monitor results. However, at the heart of the EHR is the user. This “human element” is the original source of patient information, and when it is entered incorrectly or inconsistently, there are far-reaching implications for patient care.