May 27, 2022 | By Sonal Patel, CPMA, CPC, CMC, ICDCM I have been privileged to make my entrance into the world of healthcare and medical coding, specifically after my first career as an art historian dissolved way back in 2008 due to the recession. Mind you, I have taken all my research skills,…
May 13, 2021 | By Rhonda Buckholtz, Owner, Coding and Reimbursement Experts For years we have talked about the culture in healthcare, especially for compliance purposes but for many practices that culture takes a back seat despite continued guidance. Culture is one of the most important features of a medical practice and for compliance…
April 15, 2022 | Edward Townley CPC, CEMC, CUC, ROCC, Founder, Cogent9 Consulting The action cycle for process improvement may be defined by the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA model) (i.e., the Deming cycle or Shewhart cycle). Lean/Six Sigma process improvement processes use another acronym, DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control). All of these processes are…
April 1, 2022 | By Ray Dunkle, CPA, CFE, CGMA Stakeholders are becoming increasingly interested in companies that value ethical business practices. From employees to investors, people are looking for businesses that adhere to strict environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. In the following, we will explore the importance of an ESG program as…
An ortho client emailed an interesting question this past week that is a good one to think through. For post-op major joint replacement patients, they would like to send their RN to the patient’s home for follow-up check-in visits. They wanted to provide this as an optional cash pay service. As a compliance forward auditor,…
February 11, 2022 | Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT, Director of Content, innoviHealth How have you felt when you embarked upon an audit, expecting to find certain basic standards of documentation to be present, but instead found them missing? Do you pull out your favorite red pen, grab a cup of…
November 19, 2021 | By Susan O’Loughlin, CPC, CPMA, CRC Director of Professional Coding and Provider Education – UVM Health Network CVPH Prospective, Retrospective, Random, Comprehensive, Focused… Which one to utilize is based on the type and scope of audit for your organization. If you are responsible for auditing your provider’s documentation, you know…
October 29, 2021 | Edward Townley CPC, CEMC, CUC, ROCC, Founder, Cogent9 Consulting This is the time of year that we receive our new coding manuals. First the ICD-10, which becomes effective October 1 and CPT and HCPCS manuals which come nearer to the end of the calendar year, and effective January 1. For…
October 8, 2020 | By Nicholas Goodwin, Esq. With all of the data breaches and stories about identity theft, it’s easy to get numb to all of the bad news and scary stories. After all, how can identity theft really affect my family? The answers might surprise you! First, the identity theft “crisis” isn’t any…
October 5, 2021 | By Shannon DeConda, CPC, CEMC, CEMA, CPMA, CRTT As an auditor, we must expand our skill sets to include a myriad of specialties in which we have expertise. Over the years, I have learned my strengths and certainly learned my weak areas to stay away from. When I trained as…