Healthcare Jobs on the Rise! Are you prepared?

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According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of medical assistants and medical records and health information technicians is expected to grow by 31 and 21 percent respectively by 2020, much faster than the average for all occupations. Demand will stem from physicians hiring more medical assistants to do routine administrative and clinical duties so that physicians can see more patients. As a result, the time is now, for individuals interested in training for a rewarding, stable career in healthcare. AHDPGTM has added a few new courses to help you prepare for this growth.

The Medical Administrative Assistant training program provides students a well-rounded introduction to medical administration and delivers the skills students require to obtain an administrative medical assistant position or advance within their current healthcare career.

The Clinical Medical Assistant training program prepares students to assist physicians by performing functions related to the clinical aspects of a medical office. Instruction includes preparing patients for examination and treatment, routine laboratory procedures, pharmacology, taking and documenting vital signs, technical aspects of phlebotomy, the 12-lead EKG and the cardiac life cycle. This program also includes an optional clinical externship at a local healthcare provider!

The ICD-10 Medical Billing and Coding training program reviews key elements of the changes from ICD-9 to ICD-10 and examines the impact of this change on the U.S. healthcare system. This course was designed to specifically support the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recent decision to move forward with the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 in October, 2014.

The healthcare reform’s emphasis on electronic health records is driving an increased need for “competently” trained individuals to support patient care. As a result, healthcare documentation roles (i.e. medical transcription editing, medical billing, medical coding, medical scribes and medical assistants) are high-growth areas with a shortage of qualified candidates. AHDPGTM is committed to make online job training and career development programs widely accessible to individuals interested in filling these vital jobs.

Facility Environment or Provider Environment…Which One Is Right For You?

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As a person views the medical profession they see registration staff, medical assistant staff, nursing staff, transcriptionists, billers/coders, insurance staff and collection staff. Seems pretty straight forward until you look closer at what is really available within the profession. Focusing on the billing and coding side of things, have you ever really thought about what the options are for this specialty? As a new comer to the profession, many people have no true idea of what all is in store for billers and coders. Those of us that have been around for some time understand the avenues we have that open up to us as billers and coders and respect what choices we have in this field.
When you look at the billing and coding staff in the profession, you have to look closer because what you may think is more than likely just a scratch on the surface. Billers and coders work as registration specialists, referral specialists, schedulers, health information specialists, customer service representatives, data entry specialists, insurance processors, reimbursement specialists, claims adjudicators, collection specialists and that is just to list a handful of positions a biller/coder can hold in this field. The opportunities once you have been trained within the billing and coding field really becomes endless depending on your desire, need and passion for the career.
There is then even another avenue that you need to consider when looking at this profession and that would be working in an acute care facility, rehabilitation facility, surgery center, skilled nursing facilities, insurance companies, or provider offices. There are differences on how each environment works to complete their daily tasks of billing and coding care and treatment. What is the difference between facility and provider? Let’s take a look at these differences.
Facility coding involves coding with ICD-9 and DRG codes for inpatient care and using CPT codes for outpatient care. Generally facility coding allows a coder and biller to become a specialist in a specific insurance. This can entail abstracting information from just a few pages of information to volumes of medical information depending on how long the patients stay was in the facilities. The coding cycles could be as they occur, once a month or at the end of their admission depending on what type of facility you are working in. Arrangements are determined by each type of facility as to their preference. Generally the expected work load would be coding for a said insurance, billing for that specific insurance, posting revenue for that said insurance and then refilling claims when needed for that said insurance. The facility environment has a biller/coder responsible for the entire process for a said insurance company so they become very proficient with that entity. This helps to streamline the overall tracking process of services/procedures performed and ensures that things do not fall between the cracks with as many patients a facility may see in a months’ time.
Provider coding involves coding for office services as well as facility services that are performed by your provider. Hospital consultations, rounding visits, reading of diagnostic studies, surgical procedures, and discharge summaries. From the provider side of things, a biller and coder can be the same and they can also be separate positions in a provider’s office. This will depend on the arrangement of the working environment that the provider has established. It is not uncommon to have distinct coders separated from the billers. It can also be that the coding and billing positions are combined. The opportunities to cross train in a provider’s office are often easier than in a facility due to the structure of the working environments.
Coding from a providers stand point is component coding using the ICD-9 for diagnoses only and CPT for procedures and services performed by the provider. This is one of the biggest differences between facility coding and provider coding. Understanding how these both work becomes beneficial to the coder/biller to allow them opportunities in both types of locations. Understanding your strengths and weaknesses will also help you in deciding, facility or provider?
When deciding which is best for you? You are really the only person that can make that decision. Everyone will have an opinion on which one is better than the other but only you can decide what will work for you. You may want to try both types of working locations to determine which one fits you best. You may want to ask if you can shadow for a day in each style of environment to make the best educated decision. There are pro’s and con’s to both as there is with everything in life. You just need to see which one excites you the most and that will keep you engaged for the career you are looking to have.

Games Medical Transcription Services Play…

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Have you analyzed your outsourced transcription services contract recently?

  • Is your current vendor charging you a fair “market” rate?
  • Is your current vendor leveraging speech recognition technology for your benefit or theirs?
  • Is your transcription being done overseas – without your knowledge?
  • Are you benefiting financially for the work done in India or does this benefit accrue solely to the vendor providing the services?
  • Are you aware of the added legal exposure you assume when having your work sent to other countries (with or without permission) not governed by the laws of the United States?
  • Has the transcription services market evolved to a point where you are currently paying your in-house medical transcriptionists above market wages?

These are some of the questions recently faced by a 245-bed acute-care hospital based on the Northeast. The answers were startling:

1) Fair Rate: No
After careful evaluation we identified a significant disconnect between what the hospital thought they were being billed for and what their actual bills reflected. Unfortunately this practice dates back a long way, has given our industry a black eye and appears to be rearing its ugly head again as the industry experiences significant consolidation. This difference resulted in a 22% increase in transcription costs representing approximately $68,000 in potential cost savings annually.

2) Speech Recognition: Yes
The current vendor has publicly stated that over 83% of the work processed is being done with the assistance of speech recognition technology; although there is no mention of this to the client or in the client’s contract. When the client specifically asked if their work was being processed this way and requested to share in the financial benefit the current vendor was repeatedly evasive and eventually declined to make an adjustment. In follow-up we determined there was an additional $36,000 in potential cost savings opportunity in leveraging speech recognition technology for this client.

3) Off-shoring: Yes
The current vendor has publicly stated that over 35% of their total work volume is done overseas and they are focused on increasing this amount; although there was no mention of this to the client or in the client’s contract. To make matters worse…when the vendor was asked about off-shoring the answer was again very evasive and declined to provide an answer the hospital could respond to. What’s the take-a-way: If your current contract doesn’t specifically state “no off-shoring” or “U.S. based labor only” you can be assured there is a high likelihood the work is being sent off-shore and as such you should derive some benefit for the increased exposure you (knowingly or unknowingly) assume.

4) In-house – Above Market Pay: Yes
Again, after careful analysis we determined this hospital was spending approximately 20% more per line in-house as compared to their current “inflated” outsourcing cost per line. A potential cost savings of $85,000 annually, a figure that would increase to over $100,000 if this hospital moved to a total outsource arrangement.

In conclusion, we identified approximately $157,000 in potential costs savings for this hospital or approximately 24% of their total annual transcription spend.  Imagine how surprised the HIM Director and Chief Financial Officer were when we presented these findings to them. Don’t let this happen to you.

Wouldn’t you rather be the “hero” who discovered this type of financial cost savings for your hospital?

This type of analysis is not hard and does not require a lot of time to complete…but it is amazing how many times we find prospective hospital clients who are surprised by findings like these.  If you suspect your organization might be in the same boat as this one we encourage you to spend the time to ensure you are not  surprised by the “games medical transcription services play.”

The American Healthcare Documentation Professionals Group offers a free, no obligation analysis, to U.S. based hospitals interested in determining how to reduce their in-house and/or outsourced transcription costs and improve the overall efficiency of their healthcare documentation process. To request our assistance, please contact Peter Reilly at [email protected] or call us at 508.925.5400 for more information.

The OpenNotes Project – Shared Medical Records Online

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You may have signed a release to review or obtain copies of the documents in your medical record.  Your primary care physician may have faxed or mailed copies of your notes to a specialist you were referred to.  You may have even found it necessary to make a formal request to have an error fixed in your health record.  Your PCP has given you a laundry list of instructions to follow before your next visit in a few months, but darned if you can remember all them.

What about if you had online access to your electronic health record to see what your doctor is writing about you, have copies for yourself at home to refer to, share with others as you like, and request corrections to that information?

OpenNotes, a recent year-long study, has explored this idea on a fairly large scale.  Three medical facilities in different areas of the country participated in the study:  Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts; Geisinger Health System of Danville, Pennsylvania; and Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington.  Approximately 100 physicians and 20,000 patients participated in the study.

Many physicians were optimistic about the impact patient online access would have, such as improved patient-doctor communication as well as increased patient cooperation and engagement in their healthcare.  Still, others were concerned about confusing or worrying their patients, increased demands on their time when answering questions about what was written in their notes, and perhaps feeling they should be less candid and more careful about what they write in patients’ reports.

The majority of patients were enthusiastic about the opportunity to view their records online, feeling that it would lead to better understanding of their treatment plans and improved accuracy of their records.

You may read more about the OpenNotes project here http://www.myopennotes.org/.  Through this link, you may also connect to the perspective and baseline findings articles that were published in the December 20, 2011, issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

What are your thoughts on online access to your medical records?

When Does Meaningful Use Become Meaningless or Worse?

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Many individuals believe that electronic medical records (EMRs) are a major component driving the digital transformation of the healthcare industry. The value of EMRs have been well published and include the following benefits:

  • Remote access to patient information.
  • Immediate access to the information.
  • The elimination of chart chasing.
  • The elimination of duplicate entry of the same information on multiple forms.
  • The information is continuously updated.
  • Concurrently available to many users simultaneously.
  • Automated medical alerts.
  • Automated reminders.
  • Built-in intelligence which can recognize abnormal test results or potentially life threatening drug interactions.
  • Provide a link to the clinician to protocols, care plans, critical paths, literature databases, pharmaceutical information and other databases of healthcare knowledge, etc.
  • Provide information to improve risk management and assessment outcomes.
  • Better population management.
  • Reduction of medical errors.
  • Decrease charting time and charting errors, therefore increasing the productivity of healthcare workers and decreasing medical errors due to illegible notes.
  • Provide more accurate billing information.
  • Will allow the providers of care to submit their claims electronically, therefore receiving payment quicker.

But are we fooling ourselves?  Has anyone ever stopped to consider the impact EMRs will have on our healthcare delivery system if the information placed in them is not accurate?

For the fun of it, let’s take the same list of benefits and assume the worst…I wonder what our healthcare system might look like under this scenario?

  • Remote access to inaccurate patient information.
  • Immediate access to inaccurate information.
  • Inaccurate information is concurrently available to many users simultaneously.
  • Inaccurate automated medical alerts.
  • Inaccurate automated reminders.
  • Built-in intelligence which can inaccurately recognize abnormal test results or potentially life threatening drug interactions.
  • Provide a link to the clinician to inaccurate protocols, inaccurate care plans, inaccurate critical paths, inaccurate literature databases, inaccurate pharmaceutical information and other databases of healthcare knowledge, etc.
  • Provide inaccurate information to improve risk management and assessment outcomes.
  • Ineffective population management.
  • Increase in medical errors.
  • Increased charting time and charting errors, therefore decreasing the productivity of healthcare workers and increasing medical errors due to  inaccurate notes.
  • Less accurate billing information.
  • The ability for providers of care to submit inaccurate claims electronically, therefore delaying payment or worse, driving up the cost of healthcare due to billing confusion and the ordering unneeded tests.

Wow! That’s quite a frightening picture.

An interesting point to consider this particular week…National Medical Transcriptionist Week.  A week first set aside in 1985 by President Ronald Reagan. At the time, President Reagan recognized the important jobs these highly trained professionals do when he proclaimed, “Record-keeping is a vital function in our society, and one of the most important records for every American is the medical record. That record, including reports prepared and edited by a medical transcriptionist from physician dictation, is the permanent history of a patient’s medical care. It is appropriate for our Nation to recognize the contributions of medical transcriptionists.”

Since 1985 technology has changed every aspect of our lives.  But even with the passage of time, President Reagan’s words are more accurate today with the proliferation of electronic medical records.  The EMR places today’s Medical Transcriptionist in the role as “gatekeeper” responsible for ensuring the information going into each and every person’s medical record is complete, accurate and available to all caregivers.  We need these folks as a vital check and balance to make sure “meaningful use” doesn’t become “meaningless” or worse, is allow to negatively impact patient care.

I urge all Americans to carefully consider the important role these well trained and highly qualified individuals bring to our healthcare delivery system…in the future our lives or the lives of our loved ones WILL depend on it.

Please feel free to share your thoughts on this subject with your own personal comment. Click the comment link below.

Healthcare outpaces all other sectors in jobs growth

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I have read several times of recent, a few interesting articles about the economy and jobs market.  One interesting fact seems to keep popping up in all the articles, the healthcare sector is the place to be.  The healthcare sector is growing by leaps and bounds and any jobs related to that industry are on the rise. Jobs like medical scribe, medical billing and coding, medical transcription/speech editing, healthcare IT, just to name a few would all seem to be in demand. It would appear to me that any training or certifications in the healthcare arena would be a worthwhile investment in ones future. I suppose as long as people are in need of medical attention requiring the services of a medical facility, and those facilities have a continued need to be paid for their services, this will be the case for a long time to come.  Not all the jobs for healthcare industry are for doctors and nurses. Certainly there are a lot of other areas that need skilled employees to make the whole thing work like those coders, transcriptionist, scribes ,admin and of course us IT folks. Here is an example of one of those articles I read recently.

 Healthcare IT News

Get a Jump Start on a New Career!

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By simply receiving a medical coding certificate, you will become prepared to work inside the one of the fastest-growing fields. With the major changes in health care, Medical Coding is quickly becoming on of the fastest growing professions in the United States.  

What is Medical Coding?

Medical coding professionals provide a key step in the medical billing process. Every time a patient receives care, the provider must document the services. This is where the Medical Coder is important. The Medical Coder must create a claim and assign CPT codes, ICD-9 codes and HCPCS codes for the claim so the provider can be paid.

At AHDPGTM, we offer Medical Coding Programs which are all online for your convenience. We also have created a “Jump” Start Coding Program for practicing medical transcriptionists or other allied health professionals who are looking to make a career change. The AHDPGTM Medical Billing and Coding Program is an approved education provider and nationally recognized by AAPC – The American Academy of Professional Coders.

According to The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Employment of medical records and health information technicians is expected to increase by 21 percent from 2010 to 2020, faster than the average for all occupations.

Medical Coders play a vital role in the delivery of the healthcare system. Consider training in this exciting and fast growing field. Online distance learning education can open the door to new opportunities, are you ready?

Important Features of an Online Education Program

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Online education is not the best choice for everyone but is a good choice for you?  Here are some thoughts for you to consider.

Flexibility – We are busy people! We have kids; we have full time jobs, etc. When do we fit in education? Flexibility is a HUGE benefit when doing online education. We can set our own schedule for school and study time around all the “busy” in our lives.

Self-motivation- With freedom and flexibility of the online environment there is responsibility. The online process takes a real commitment and discipline. Online education is not for everyone. You have to be determined to do it; you have to do it because it’s important to you! With that in mind, you must be self-motivated to succeed! Remember that it is extremely important for you to stay on top of your work without procrastinating. At times you might have to close out distractions in order to study and complete your assignments

Setting Goals- First plan on success! Distance learning has its own special challenges but when you set your goals in mind the chances of success is greatly increased. When you have accomplished an assignment or you received a good grade on a quiz, reward yourself! Remember to be proud of your accomplishments!

Expense – In the current economy, cost is often a big factor to consider. We do not need to spend more money than needed on our education.  Traditional universities or schools usually have many factors that make their costs higher than the online schools. Universities have costs of buildings, maintenance, staff, and many other costs. Also, students have to travel to the school adding fuel expenses and time to their already busy day. Online students avoid these costs making it more affordable and more convenient to attend an online school. Also consider how the school determines its tuition. Some schools charge by the class and other schools the semester. Maybe it is better financially to find a school that charges a flat fee.

The combination of everything above makes online education a great option for those of us that need another option. That’s my list, what would you add?

Speech Recognition Editing

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What is it and why do I care anyway? Speech Recognition Editing the activity in which a Medical Language Specialist (MLS) reviews and corrects medical documents that have been dictated then converted by automatic speech recognition software to text. The medical transcription industry needs MTs with this particular knowledge to work with speech recognition. If there are not enough people trained to do Speech Recognition Editing, the industry is going to end up letting it go without an editor. This is going create a lot of mistakes in the transcribed medical reports, something that the medical profession cannot have.  Most doctors require no less than 98% accuracy from their MTs which is another reason the industry needs qualified Speech Recognition Editors.

Speech recognition is a great addition to your resume and is a skill that will help you remain competitive and stay employed in spite of economic changes and technological advances in healthcare documentation.

Important Questions to Ask an Online Training Program

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  1. How much time will I need to invest to get through the program? You will want to how long the course takes (9 months, a year?) and how many hours you should expect to put in each week to make sure you finish on time. There is nothing worse than getting behind in anonline program. Once you are behind, catching up is hard to do.
  2. What are the admission requirements for this program? Do you need a high school diploma? Most of the time online schools will have you complete an entrance exam before you are allowed to take the program you are interested in.
  3. What type of materials will you receive in with your course? Will
    I have to buy any additional materials with your course? Does it cover the cost of shipping?      Some schools will cover the costs of materials with tuition and others will not. It is important to know that up front that way you know what kind of investment you are looking at. If the school does not cover shipping, you will want to make sure and ask how much extra that will be.
  4. Are the instructor’s experts in the field they are teaching? This is an extremely important question! You want to make sure you are paying for the proper education taught by people who are trained and who are experts in their field. Simple thought but so many times we do not look into this.
  5. What kind of interaction can I expect from the instructor of the
    program?     You will want to find out the office hours of your instructor and
    how you are allowed to contact them i.e. email, phone calls, instant messenger.
  6. Is there a defined grading scale?
    You do not want to come up short when it is time to graduate. Most schools have a clearly defined grading scale right on their website. If not, ask for one. It
    never hurts to have a clear understanding of what is expected of you.
  7. What system requirements do I need to have in order to take an
    online course?     This will be specific to whatever program you are taking. You need to make sure what the requirements are so in case you need to buy something extra, you can budget for that and get it before your class starts.
  8. Does your school have a withdrawal and refund policy? Make
    sure you understand the schools withdrawal and refund policy before signing on the dotted line. Make sure it is clearly defined on the paperwork.
  9. How does this program compare to other online programs out
    there?     I strongly suggest you make a list of schools you are comparing.
    Find the features that important for you to have in an online training program.
    Get all your questions answered and do your research. Remember, YOU will make the final decision on which program you will take so make sure it the right fit for your life.

               An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.

~Author unknown