Technology, Data Security, and the Wall of Shame

, , , ,

A Surprising Statistic
A recent blog article on the Modern Healthcare web site states that 12.1% of the U.S. population has had their protected health information (PHI) compromised in data breaches. That amounts to approximately 1 in 8 Americans that have been affected.

With assurances of doctor-patient confidentiality, notice of HIPAA practices at the doctor’s office, and the need to sign a release form to get one’s own medical records, this is a staggering number, and it’s a tough pill to swallow.

More clinicians are using portable devices such as laptops, tablets, and even Google Glass in an effort to better coordinate care and increase provider productivity. As a result, patients’ medical information is no longer contained just within the medical records room but is transported in and out of the office and even maintained on the cloud. While there are many benefits to the implementation of these technologies, the opportunity for data to be misplaced or stolen is increased.

What is The Wall of Shame?
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the watchdog for compliance with the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. The OCR Secretary must publicly post any data breaches affecting more than 500 patients, and that data can be found in a searchable database on the OCR site.  Many in the industry refer to this as the Wall of Shame.

When the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or HITECH, went into effect in February 2010, it strengthened the existing Privacy and Security Rules under HIPAA.  One key change made was that business associates of covered entities are now equally responsible for complying with these rules and are subject to the same fines and penalties.  Medical transcription companies, healthcare documentation specialists working as independent contractors, or any vendor or third party working with protected health information are examples of business associates.

Data breaches may take many forms. Laptops containing PHI are stolen or accidentally left behind; electronic protected health information (ePHI) on an organization’s server becomes available on Internet search engines due to changes in server configuration; ePHI stored on a photocopier hard drive is not erased when the equipment is returned to the leasing company. This represents just a few of the many scenarios reported on the HHS web site.

There has been a steady increase in the number of breaches on ‘the wall.’  For example, in 2004, there were 2 incidents posted in the HHS database; in 2013 that number soared to 242. This year already shows more than 100 reported breaches. Again, these are breaches where PHI for more than 500 individuals is involved. As one might expect, there is a noticeable jump in reported cases in 2010, after HITECH went into effect, incorporating not just covered entities but business associates as well.

The advancement of technology in healthcare documentation has the potential to improve the coordination of patient care and improve productivity for providers; however, with the increased number of avenues where information may be breached, we must be ever vigilant to protect that data.

Want to learn more?  Join us for AHDPGTM‘s free online HIPAA training. This training is an Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) Preapproved Activity for 2 CEC (Medicolegal).

Scribe Integrity

,

Found this controversial article from an unnamed Scribe that really stirred some inward emotions as a nurse, MT and Scribe instructor. Although I understand the whole wanting to please your boss (the physician) and the the hospital, I think the bigger picture is being missed here in the article. Scribes are suppose to save time for doctors so doctors can in turn do a better job because they have a little more time. No, there is still not an abundance of time. There never is in health care.  Scribes should not be asked to compromise their integrity. Instead, perhaps, the patients need be treated at a level 5 to be medically coded and ultimately billed for level 5 reimbursement. If the CEO was asked at any hospital, I think they would agree that level 5 billing deserves level 5 care and it would ultimately fall back on the physician to uphold this standard of care, not to cheat the system. Here at AHDPGTM, we put many premed students through our Scribe program with goals to later become physicians. It is a wonderful bridge career! For our Scribe graduates with future aspirations of becoming a physician, remember that integrity says a lot about who you are.   I would like to think that Scribes who move on to become physicians will have an even better understanding and can step up their game just a little more!  See the full story here.

The American Healthcare Documentation Professional Group (AHDPG) Acquires Coding Coaches to Broaden Its Online Training and Service Offerings

As the nation’s leading provider of outsourced transcription services and online training for individuals seeking to launch exciting careers in medical billing, medical coding, medical transcription, medical scribing or as a clinical or administrative medical assistant the combination of these two respected firms will continue to ensure each graduate is competently trained, certified and able to secure gainful employment in today’s healthcare marketplace.

Shrewsbury, MA (PRWEB) March 25, 2014 – “Change in healthcare is everywhere. With the required conversion to ICD-10 in October, 2014, the nation’s move to electronic health records and the launch of the Affordable Care Act is driving significant change in healthcare delivery and how healthcare organizations bill and get paid. With change comes opportunity for both individuals and organizations willing to embrace it. Many organizations are just now realizing the true scope and complexity needed to successfully navigate this endeavor,” said Doug Palmer, CCS-P, and President of Coding Coaches. “By combining with AHDPGTM we have created a truly exciting combination of two firms very similar in mission, philosophy, and culture. The end result will enable us to provide a new and broader set of online training programs and outsourced service options for individuals and healthcare organizations nationwide.”

“Coding Coaches is exactly the type of organization AHDPGTM has been looking to partner with or acquire for well over a year now,” said President and CEO Peter Reilly. “In working with the team at Coding Coaches we have been able to successfully combine their expertise, in the areas of medical billing, coding and reimbursement with AHDPGTM‘s innovative online learning platform and education experience to create a variety of training solutions that will competently prepare individuals and organizations to successfully respond to the evolving healthcare documentation requirements brought on by ICD-10, Electronic Health Records and the Affordable Care Act. As a result of this change the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that employment of health information technicians, including medical billers, medical coders, medical scribes, medical transcriptionists and medical assistants of all types, is projected to grow 22 percent from 2012 to 2022, much faster than the average for all occupations. For the right individual, the time is now to launch an exciting career in healthcare documentation.”

For more information on the training programs, outsourced transcriptions or to find out how the MyCAA program can pay for your education (active military personnel), please contact Admissions at 800-407-1186, extension 800.

Peter Reilly, President & CEO
American Healthcare Documentation Professionals Group
Telephone: 800-407-1186
[email protected]

Mobile Technology in Healthcare

,

Apple is leading an initiative to get mobile devices more integrated into the healthcare arena. With their upcoming iOS 8 and its HealthKit app as being an all-in-one solution for medical professionals to store patient data like blood pressure, pulse, and weight, they are hoping that physicians will use the available data to improve diagnostics and treatment decisions.  They are also looking to partner with electronic health records provider Epic Systems to integrate its software and services.  As the mobile market rapidly expands, healthcare seems like a  logical next step to integrate with.  Several healthcare facilities are currently in talks regarding integrating Apple devices with their Epic systems My Chart.  Of course with this comes other concerns and issues to be worked through but it seems that mobile technology and deeper healthcare integration could be coming together real soon.  See more about this at Reuters in this report.

Google Glass Enters the Operating Room

, , ,

By now most of us have heard of Google Glass. If you have not, you need to Google it! Came across this article about Google Glass entering the operating room. It does mention about how medical software developers plan to customize it and make it HIPAA compliant. Even though physicians are already operating at dangerously high levels of multitasking levels, it could be used for teaching purposes in the operating room. Once the software is developed, I suspect physicians could even use it for dictation purposes. Dictation behind Google Glass…Just think about it.   Check out this article  http://nyti.ms/1kzL86R 

Could This Be The Beginning of a Groundswell Movement Against EHR Adoption?

, ,

As the healthcare industry marches towards Stage 2 of Meaningful Use, there is a large population of physicians that have not yet accepted the requirements put forth by CMS in the EHR Incentive Programs. Dr. Daniel F. Craviotto Jr., an orthopedic surgeon in Santa Barbara, California, took to the Wall Street Journal earlier this week to protest the restrictive chains of EHR adoption, quality penalties, shrinking Medicare reimbursements, and bureaucratic red tape that prevent a physician from focusing on what’s really important: engaging with and treating patients.

As noted in a previous blog post (Doctors or Data Entry Clerks?) we have been wondering when physicians, other healthcare practitioners and more importantly, healthcare executives were finally going to see the Emperor’s true clothes and begin to push back against the $30 billion dollar machine which is perverting healthcare delivery and any true efforts to reduce the rise in healthcare spending in this country.

Now do a quick Google search and all of a sudden there is a growing list of articles questioning the implementation, cost and patient safety benefits arising from this national initiative.  Here is a sample of some of the most recent articles:

U.S. Electronic Health Record Initiative: A Backlash (IEEE Spectrum)

Electronic Health Records Rife with Flaws (Albuquerque Journal)

Report Finds More Flaws in Digitizing Patient Files (NY Times)

Is EHR “mania” Hiding Serious Patient Safety Flaws? (EHR Intelligence)

To be clear we are not against the implementation of technology in healthcare.  In fact, there are any number of proven technologies that we have all benefited from and there will be new technologies that we will benefit from moving forward in the future.  What we are saying is two things:

First, if the technology is truly of value to the marketplace (any marketplace, but in this case the healthcare delivery marketplace) then we have a great system setup in this country where that technology will be embraced (sold and implemented) and it does not require a $30 billion push from the government to make it happen.

Secondly, since one of the largest cost drivers in any business (including healthcare) is people, then one of the best and simplest ways to reduce costs is to ensure you have the right people, doing the right activities in the most cost effective manner.  Using highly educated, highly compensated physicians as data entry clerks is not the solution.

For all our sake’s we hope this groundswell continues to grow!

Do You Need a Scribe?

, , ,

Over the past several decades, new and interesting healthcare roles have been created to reflect the changing complexities of our health care system. We have seen the proliferation of hospitalists, surgicalists and laborists (in-hospital obstetrical specialists) on the physician side, and patient navigators, physician extenders and patient ombudsmen in the non-physician side. Now, there is an additional and intriguing job title that may gain some traction even in the high-tech era of the electronic medical record (EMR): the “medical scribe.”

The medical scribe, also known as a “clinical information manager,” “medical scribe specialist” or “ER/ED scribe,” is a trained medical information manager who specializes in charting physician-patient encounters in real time. Although originally spawned as an adjunct in the emergency medicine environment, this clerical resource is seeing wide-spread use in the inpatient and outpatient/ambulatory care settings.

The use of scribes has exploded in direct relationship to the negative consequences of EMR use.

In the inpatient setting, the time that physicians are spending at the patient bedside has been drastically reduced in order to spend more time with EMR data entry. The same applies to the outpatient, ambulatory or office setting where physician face-time with patients has seen an equally significant reduction, by some estimates by as much as 30 percent! Not only is productivity negatively impacted but the time that physicians spend during a patient visit capturing and entering data rather than focusing on the patient can be a major drag on the overall quality of care, patient satisfaction and revenue generation. Here is where the medical scribe may serve a very important role.

The medical scribe is an unlicensed individual hired to enter information into the EMR or chart at the direction of the physician or licensed independent practitioner. Through the use of medical scribes, organizations can improve the overall quality of documentation for both granularity and specificity; which in turn improves billing and revenue generation. In addition, by shifting the vast majority of real-time documentation responsibility to the scribe, physicians are able to see more patients, generate more revenue and better manage their time overall so that at the end of a busy day there is no need to finalize one’s charts or enter additional data in the EMR – increasing regulatory compliance!

The positive effects created by working with a medical scribe are legion:

Quality of Care Increases
Patient Volume Increases
Revenue Increases
Patient Satisfaction Increases
Physician Satisfaction Increases
Regulatory Compliance Increases

As more and more healthcare organizations look to implement medical scribes two methods of implementation are being used. Some healthcare organizations look to engage a medical scribe management company while others choose the homegrown method. Each option brings with it certain advantages and disadvantages.

By partnering with a medical scribe management company a healthcare organization is typically entering into a multi-year agreement where the scribe management company will recruit, hire, train, manage, monitor and deliver a medical scribe program. The fees for this service typically fall into two categories – a one-time implementation fee to get the program up and running (typically between $25,000 – $100,000 depending upon the size and scope of the program) and a per hour fee for each scribe used (typically in the $20 – $26 per hour range). So for each scribe FTE the healthcare facility is paying about $48,000 per year (using $24/hour). A nice premium over the $10 – $14 per hour a typical scribe earns.

And for those organizations who choose the homegrown method the task of recruiting, hiring, training and developing competent resources in sufficient numbers becomes a bit of a challenge.

But now there is a third option.  The American Healthcare Documentation Professionals Group, a Certified Academic Partner of the American College of Medical Scribe Specialists will partner with you to recruit, hire, train and oversee the use of medical scribes at your facility. Whether you need one or 100 scribes our online/on-site medical scribe training program might be just what the doctor ordered!

The benefits of our program include:

  • No upfront implementation cost.
  • No ongoing per/hour per scribe fee.
  • An all-inclusive training fee of less than $2,000 per scribe which covers each scribes tuition, books, materials, membership in the American College of Medical Scribe Specialists and certification exam.
  • Flexibility to “customize” the training program to meet the specific needs of your facility.

Contact us today if you need a medical scribe or 101?

Scribes Actually Saving Hospitals Money!

,

Scribes are growing assets to the hospitals. Yes, some hospitals have the added the expense of Scribes, but it frees up the physicians’ time from clerical work which thus increases their productivity. The physician’s increase of productivity then brings in more money for the hospitals. Check out this article and share your thoughts!
– See more at: MILFORD DAILY NEWS ARTICLE

American Healthcare Documentation Professionals Group Launches ICD-10 Inpatient Certified Coding Specialist (CCA/CCS) Online Training Program

, ,

With the U.S. healthcare systems implementation of ICD-10 less than a year away the time is now to begin training for a rewarding, stable career in healthcare.

Shrewsbury, MA (PRWEB) January 6, 2014 – Whether you are in the process of choosing your first profession or are looking to change career paths, you should consider pursuing a career in medical billing and coding. Working as a medical coder is a way to contribute to the health care field without years of training or being married to the job and you can be proud that you are serving an industry that helps countless people every day.

AHDPGTM, the nation’s leading provider of online training for allied health professionals, is proud to announce its newest training program for individuals looking to become an ICD-10 Inpatient Certified Coding Specialist.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor the need for medical records and health information professionals is expected to grow by over 37,000 positions by 2020. That is a growth rate of over 21%, making these position one of the fastest growing segments in the U.S. In addition, all existing medical coders, estimated to be well
over 100,000 individuals will be required to learn a new coding system (ICD-10) in time for its implementation on October, 1st, 2014.

“In response to this overwhelming industry transition and our ongoing focus to help individuals launch or transition into a new career as a medical coder, AHDPGTM is excited to announce this new program”, say Peter Reilly, President and CEO. “Over the past twelve months we have worked with our industry contacts to assess and evaluate what the market’s requirements are in anticipation of this transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10. We are
thrilled to have partnered with Pamela Haney, MS, RHIA, CCS, CPC-H in the creation of this program.”

For over 30 years Pam has been actively involved in the health information management industry serving in a variety of roles including Director of Medical Records, Director of Health Information Services, Privacy Officer and Director of Coding Services. In addition Pam has worked to continually develop those individuals who have worked for her, as well as through her industry activities and in a variety of teaching positions both online and onsite.

Under Pam’s direction this comprehensive program has been developed to include sections on medical terminology, anatomy & physiology, pathopharmacology, health information and delivery systems, legal and compliance issues – everything a well-trained medical coder needs to know today. It is the most up-to-date and comprehensive program on the market and under Pam’s leadership the program will continue to evolve to meet the needs of the students and the employers we serve.

Students are able to take this course from the comfort of their home making it easy to work into busy schedules. Through this course, students will gain all of the necessary knowledge to successfully complete the Certified Coding Associate exam administered by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and work effectively in a growing, rewarding industry.

For more information on our online training programs and/or outsourcing services or to find out how the MyCAA Program can pay for your education, visit our website or call Lynn Calkins, our Admissions Coordinator at 719.404.3449.

About Us
The American Healthcare Documentation Professionals Group (AHDPGTM) is a nationally recognized medical transcription outsourcing services and online training organization. Our unique combination of providing outsourcing services to healthcare organizations nationwide and online training programs for individuals looking to move into an exciting career in healthcare ensures our employees; our graduates and our clients are
best positioned for success.

We were the first employer owned training and workforce development organization approved by the Approval Committee for Certificate Programs (ACCP), a joint committee established by the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) and the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).

We offer online training programs in the areas of: Medical Transcription, Medical Billing, Medical Coding, Medical Scribing or Clinical Information Management, Clinical Administrative Assisting and Medical Administrative Assisting.

Peter Reilly, President & CEO
American Healthcare Documentation Professionals Group
Telephone: 800-407-1186
[email protected]

Medical Billing and Coding Professions, Which one is best for you?

,

By: Karen Mooney, MBA, BS, CPC, CPC-I, CMSCS, CHI

There is a large misconception from those that are just entering into the medical administration field.  Many people believe that billers and coders are one in the same.  In reality, there is a big difference on the focus between these two categories.  A medical biller is focused on data entry of claims, claims processing, claims follow up, accounts receivable, patient billing, and collections.  Billers also make very strong registration specialists and front desk staff.  A medical biller is a strong strength when it comes to collecting funds due by the patient at the time of appointments as they know what to look for.  Billers are also great enforcers of referrals and authorizations that may be necessary for payment of services.  One other avenue that could work for a biller would be working in the health information department as billers are trained on HIPAA requirements and the need for completed medical records.

When a person is considering a coding profession, there is much more challenge in this aspect due to the level of knowledge that is necessary to perform the duties of a coder.  A coder must understand the working knowledge of the ICD-9-CM as well as the CPT coding reference. Coders are responsible for making sure that when coding services and procedures that the diagnosis that has been provided supports the medical necessity for the service before these are forwarded for processing.  Medical Coders hold a very large responsibility in their hands when performing their daily duties and are completely responsible for what they code.  Coders can find work in physician offices, clinics, hospitals with the right background of training.  From there, coders become quality reviewers, advanced educators, auditors, and consultants.

When individuals are researching new careers, the medical profession is a great choice as there is a long line of stability in the medical profession.  With that said, locating the best focused training is very important to a person’s success.  History has proven that the most direct route into medical administration is through the billing side of the profession.  This provides a great passageway into the field and allows many opportunities to a new comer to the medical field. Practices and physicians are more likely to hire individuals that are right out of school for a billing position versus a coding position.  The reason for this is that the coders hold a large responsibility of a physician’s revenue in their day to day process. Physicians are completely aware of this fact and are less apt to hire a person, right out of school without any live experience in the coding realm.

When researching your career path, and you are looking to learn to become a Medical Biller, then you want to focus on a program that will be sure to provide you with the background knowledge of the types of insurances, patient’s responsibilities, what can and cannot be processed from a billing side of the process and still covering an introduction of ICD-9 and CPT coding.  An introduction to ICD-9 and CPT does not make a biller qualified to work as a coder.  If you are looking to become a coder, be sure that the program offers you an entire review of the CPT coding reference. This process should be a minimum of 3 months to accomplish the course you are looking at.  If you decide that a medical biller and coder is the program that you are interested in, the program should be a minimum of 9 months to ensure that you have learned the skills necessary for both specialties. The most direct process is to become a biller and introduce yourself to the profession in the billing community, build experience, continue to code, then work your way into a coding position within the profession.  Ultimately the final decision is yours.  You need to make the best decision for reaching your final goal. Just remember that anything worthwhile is worth working towards.