National healthcare entities are teaming up and speaking out on how to make healthcare better. EDITOR’S NOTE: The following was discussed by Nachimson during last Tuesday’s Talk Ten Tuesdays live broadcast. There are two major and complementary rules to advance interoperability being proposed by U.S. Department of Health and Human…

Recommended next steps for physician practices are discussed by the author. As you have probably heard by now, a federal judge in Texas, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor, on Friday, Dec. 14, 2018 struck down the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) as unconstitutional, ruling that the individual mandate…

Coders can expect to confront new challenges, including new payment models and HIPAA changes. The new year brings new challenges for the healthcare industry. From new payment models to updates to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to 21st Century Cures, hold on to your hats, because it…

Ten things to consider before outsourcing your healthcare needs.  I have spent a good part of the past 10 years in the healthcare industry, immersing myself in the workings of foreign countries as it relates to coding, billing, compliance, HIPAA, Protected Health Information (PHI), etc., and have found that there…

How healthcare providers can best prepare for the worst. Editor’s Note: The following is a transcript of a recent segment on Talk Ten Tuesdays by Julie Dooling, speaking on challenges and tips for healthcare organizations in the face of a natural disaster. Collectively, we continue to learn from experiences where…

The aftermath of Florence prompts a review of emergency preparedness We know the 2018 hurricane season is upon us, but we are always unsure of where the individual storms will appear, what their track will be, and how they will behave. Hurricane Florence—since downgraded to a tropic depression— has been…

Achieving accurate and comprehensive coding of such issues is an imperative. Mental and behavioral disorders have recently had a media spotlight shone on them, and coding of these disorders can sometimes be tricky. Learning the nuances can help achieve accurate coding, which will enhance data necessary to make improvements in…

For HIM and CDI professionals, 2018 looks to offer a gift of the tremendous opportunity for success.For movie buffs, the film Darkest Hour offers a tremendous view into the early days of World War II, when the fate of Western Europe hangs on the shoulders of newly appointed British Prime…

EDITOR’S NOTE: Matthew Albright oversaw the certification program at the Center for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH) and Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange (CORE) to ensure conformance with the requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). He also served as Director of the Administrative Simplification Group…

The implementation of ICD-10 for auto casualty has been dependent on what happens with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the rest of the healthcare industry.  The only states that have a dependency are states such as Pennsylvania and Florida, which use the Medicare rates for payment…