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Latest
News
March 8, 2008
DCBA, Inc sends congratulations to some of our earlier clients who were recently named within the top 10% hospitals in the country by HealthGrades with their Distinguished Hospital Awards:
- Baptist Memorial Hospital, Memphis, TN, CDI Director Cathy Rose, RN
- Middlesex Hospital, Middletown, CT, CDIS Alison Yazmer, RN
- Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT, CDIS Glen Basile, RN, Daryl Hyde, RN, Megan Mooney, RN
Additionally, we congratulate for continued excellence the following hospitals who had been on the list for the last number of years:
- AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, Atlantic City, NJ, CDI Team leader, Mary Hogan
- Florida Hospital Heartland, Sebring FL, CDIS Glen Kegler, RN
- Holy Cross Hospital, Fort Lauderdale, FL, CDIS Patty Buckley, RN
- Rockingham Memorial Hospital, Harrisonburg, WVA, CDIS Darla MacDonald, RN
- Memorial Hermann Healthcare, Houston, TX, CDI Leader Joy Coletti, RN
- Aultman Hospital, Canton, OH
Measures of excellence in healthcare depends on two phases - the actual delivery of diagnostic and therapeutic modalities (affects observed data) and reflection of true severity of illness through proper documentation and coding (affects expected data). These hospitals have it all. Keep up the good work!
December 7, 2007
Margi Brown, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC gave an Audioconference via AHIMA on CPT® Update
October 1, 2007
Dr Gold Appointed to
Advisory Board for the Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists (ACDIS)
View Dr. Gold's biography alongside his ACDIS colleagues.
September 4, 2007
DCBA Inc's CEO Appointed to Editorial Advisory Board of
"For The Record"
"Distinguished. Honored. Leaders in their field. Those are a few of the attributes of For The Record’s new advisory board. For years, this collection of talent has helped reshape the healthcare industry by tackling tough issues and spearheading the charge for change when necessary."
Complete press release and Q&A with "For The Record" can be found here.
August 1, 2007
Dr. Gold Reprinted in
the Newsletter of Memorial Hospital of York, PA
Dr. Gold's "Minute for the Medical Staff" article on POA Indicators was reprinted in the internal newsletter. Download a copy here.
June 21, 2007
DCBA Inc Congratulates Hartford Hospital on its outstanding mortality statistics in Cardiac care.
In Connecticut, only two hospitals-- Hartford Hospital and St.
Vincent’s in Bridgeport-- were ranked in the top category. CMS
simultaneously released a comparison of mortality rates for heart
failure, but no Connecticut hospital ranked higher than the national
average.
“We are gratified to see the dedication and expertise of our cardiac
team reflected in these numbers,” said Paul Thompson, MD, Director of
Cardiology. “It’s not often that hard data proves what we all know
to be true-that the Henry Low Heart Center is among the finest cardiac
treatment centers in the country.”
Congratulations to all involved in our cardiac program. We can be very
proud of the comprehensive nature of our services, which undoubtedly
contributed to our superior ranking. A 24-hour cath lab, a dedicated
angioplasty ICU, leading-edge imaging modalities, a heart
transplantation/VAD program, extensive cardiac surgery experience, the
Chest Pain Center, skilled physicians, nurses and support staff, and
many more features of our program place us in very exclusive company
nationwide.
March 21,2007
Dr. Gold Collaborates on important M&M Article for Surgeons.
Dr. Campbell is Assistant Dean for Clinical Affairs and Chief of Clinical Affairs at the University of Michigan Health System. He is also Chairman of the American College of Surgeons’ National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) Advisory Committee.
Your Documentation – Your M&M Profile is available in the Articles for Physicians section or by direct link here. This special piece does not require a password.
January 27, 2007
Larry C. Deeb, MD, President of the American Diabetes Association joins Dr. Gold in an article on documentation and coding needs for diabetes, to be printed in February 2007 in the "Minute for the Medical Staff" column.
The online version of the article is available here.
Articles for physicians are password-protected for members only. Please email Dr. Gold to request access.
November 20, 2006
Dr Gold to give HCPro Audioconference on
Diabetes Coding January 17, 2007.
During this program, renowned HIM expert Dr. Robert S. Gold and Shannon McCall, RHIA, CCS, CPC, HCPro’s director of coding and HIM, take an in-depth look at diabetes from a clinical and coding point of view, from understanding the clinical aspects of different types of diabetes to assigning combination codes and reconciling documentation.
Registration information will be announced shortly.
November 7, 2006
Take time now to address these deleted DRGs
The 2007 inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) final rule brought 20 new severity DRGs, but it also eliminated eight existing DRGs. And part of training staff on how to use the new codes is teaching them what not to use.
HCPro presents the full article by Gloryanne Bryant and Dr Gold on a pay-per-view basis on their website.
Revised ICD-9-CM Guidelines are effective November 15, 2006
The site owith the new guidelines can be found here: www.cdc.gov/nchs/datawh/ftpserv/ftpicd9/icdguide06.pdf
Note the change of the definition of Sepsis and Septicemia and the coding specifications.
Guidelines begin on page 14
Revised Guidelines for Pain begin on page 25.
Revised Guidelines for Chronic Kidney Disease begin on page 30
Revised Guidelines for Respiratory Failure begin on page 35
Revised Guidelines for Chronic Kidney Disease with Kidney Transplant begin on page 36
Revised Guidelines for Pathologic Fractures begin on page 43 Note the inclusion of guidelines for repair of complications of previous treatment.
Revised Guidelines for Acute Fractures vs. Aftercare begin on page 49
Revised Guidelines for Kidney Transplant Complications begin on page 54
Revised Guidelines for SIRS due to noninfectious process begin on page 54 Revised Guidelines for Aftercare V-codes begin on page 62
Revised Guidelines for Routine and Administrative V-codes begin on page 64 V-Code Table of codes effective October 1, 2006 begins on page 68
Revised Guidelines for E-codes begin on page 78 Revised Guidelines for Inpatient Uncertain Diagnosis of Principal Diagnosis begin on page 84
Revised Guidelines for Inpatient Uncertain Diagnosis of Additional Diagnosis begin on page 86
Revised Guidelines for Outpatient Uncertain Diagnosis begin on page 89
Revised Guidelines for Outpatient Diagnostic Services Only begin on page 89 Statement of Guidelines for Present on Admission (POA) Indicator effective October 1, 2006 begin on page 91
Note Reporting Requirements, Assigning the POA Indicator, Exempt Categories & Codes, and Examples.
October 28, 2006
AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY AGREES
Core Measure Criteria Are Wrong
Ever since the new code sets for Heart Failure (and acute MI) came out in 2003, I learned more and more about the conditions the represent heart failure, the modeling changes of the left ventricle, the functional abnormalities and what they really meant in developing an understanding of stroke volume, left ventricular end diastolic pressure, diastolic filling and ejection fraction. When CMS and JCAHO came out with separate and later unified criteria sets for Core Measures - of compliance with clinical criteria in dealing with heart failure, I realized that there was something wrong.
More>>
Seminar Date: July 20, 2006
"APR-DRGs" - Impact of Severity Adjustment on Coding
Seminar Date: July 20, 2006
Faculty: Robert S. Gold, MD and Mark S. Michelman, MD, MBA
The advent of published hospital and physcian profiles has raised the awareness of SOI (severity of illness) and it's importance in reporting.
from: https://imis.ahima.org/orders/productByCategory.cfm?t=1
Dr Gold and Dr Jefferey Slepin spoke on the following topics at the Florida HIM
Association National Meeting
Fluid Balance and Kidney Disease
Robert S. Gold, MD
Learn about the effects of diseases on fluid balance in the body, acute renal disease and the effects of chronic renal disease on fluid balance. Tie in the new hypovolemia codes with acute and chronic renal (failure? insufficiency?)
Neurological Work Up
M. Jeffrey Slepin, MD, MBA, FACEP
Learn the clinical pathways for neurological type problems such as mental status changes, weakness and stroke protocol.
More information is available here: http://www.fhima.org/coast/archives/fhi.20060508.html
CMS ANNOUNCES PROPOSED CHANGES TO PHYSICIAN FEE SCHEDULE METHODOLOGY
SUBSTANTIAL INCREASES IN PAYMENTS FOR TIME SPENT WITH PATIENTS
The above press release was distributed by the US Department of Health & Human Services on June 21, 2006. “It’s time to increase Medicare’s payment rates for physicians to spend time with their patients,” said CMS Administrator Mark McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. “We expect that improved payments for evaluation and management services will result in better outcomes, because physicians will get financial support for giving patients the help they need to manage illnesses more effectively.”
View the entire press release here: www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=1887
Dr. Gold has authored the 2007 version of the HCPro book Understanding and Applying the 2007 ICD Codes along with Gloryanne Bryant of Catholic Healthcare West. Release date will be annnounced when available.
Dr. Gold delivered a presentation
to the Users of The Delta Group's software packages for management of statistics
derived from MedPAR files in determining severity adjusted
data for their hospitals. The gist of the presentation
revolved around the fact the statistics are only as good
as the codes that go into the MedPAR files and, without
adequate physician documentation, the codes may be a
poor representation of the patient's condition and severity
of illness. Severity adjusted statistics must suffer
when documentation issues prevent adequate representation
of that severity in codes. "Documentation improvement" programs
that start and end at the assignment of a DRG will always
underserve the hospital and its medical staff. Check
the Trident Provider Profiling System at www.thedeltagroup.com.
Dr Robert Gold presents
Coding for Respiratory Conditions via Web Seminar,
February 23.
Dr Gold presented clinical information about the different
types of respiratory conditions and the source documents
used for coding them.
More information available here: https://imis.ahima.org/orders/productByCategory.cfm?t=1
Cesar M. Limjoco, MD, CCS Joins DCBA Inc as Vice-President
of Cinical Services
Dr. Limjoco has 20 years of experience in the coding
field, focusing on coding validation, compliance reviews
as well as coder, concurrent reviewer, and physician
continuing education. He served as Physician Advisor
to Oxford Health Plan. Dr. Limjoco also served as Chair
of the New York Medical Coding Section and State Round
Table Coordinator for the Society of Clinical Coding.
Dr Robert Gold presents updates in Kidney Disease
Coding
Dr. Gold and Sue Prophet Bowman, RHIA, CCS, Coding Compliance
Director of AHIMA, co-presented the new changes in Coding
for Chronic Kidney Disease, a very hot topic with the
2006 ICD code sets. Is your hospital ready to transition
from "Chronic Renal Failure" to "Chronic
Kidney Disease?"
View
the most recent article here.
Dr Robert Gold presents upcoming changes for 2006
ICD-9-CM
Dr. Gold and Gloryanne Bryant, RHIA, Coding Director for
Catholic Healthcare West presented the coding and clinical
aspects of the upcoming 2006 ICD-9-CM codes and the 2006
DRG changes for HCPro. See how you can obtain training
tips for your staff. Massive impact in the field of Cardiology
and Nephrology.
Available Here
Dr Robert Gold to present seminar on Kidney Disease
Coding
Dr. Gold and Sue Prophet Bowman, RHIA, CCS, Coding Compliance
Director of AHIMA, will co-present the upcoming changes
in Coding for Chronic Kidney Disease, expected
to be a hot topic with the upcoming 2006 ICD code sets.
Call the education folks at www.AHIMA.org
to sign up for this very important discussion (it's not
even listed on the web site yet). Learn how to prepare
your medical staff for this massive change.
Dr Robert Gold to present Quality Improvement
Seminar in Hawaii
Dr. Gold was asked by Mountain Pacific Quality Health
Foundation, the QIO (Quality Improvement Organization)
of the state of Hawaii to present at the Spring Meeting
of HIMAH (Health Information Management Association of
Hawaii). They felt it important for all coding professionals
at their hospitals to have a good understanding of the
concepts of Sepsis, Septicemia and Bacteremia, especially
with the advent of new codes and specific direction for
appropriate use of these codes. Additionally, it was important
to them to ensure that everyone recognized the current
aspects of determining clinical decisions about Pneumonias
so as to ensure proper, complaint coding of pneumonia
cases.
It is anticipated that Dr. Gold and DCBA will be helping
the current initiatives of MPQHF in quality documentation
and coding practices. See www.HIMAH.org
for news about Hawaii's organization.
Dr Gold to present ICD-9-CM codes for HCPro to
Catholic Healthcare West
Dr. Gold will be working with Gloryanne Bryant, RHIA,
Coding Director for Catholic Healthcare West on presenting
the coding and clinical aspects of the upcoming 2006 ICD-9-CM
codes. Check HCPro's web site for attending this massively
important audioconference as some changes are due that
can considerable impact on the physicians, the coders
and the hospitals regarding upcoming changes in Chronic
Renal Failure. |
