Hey...Anybody Out There?

Hey guys! It seems to have been a lifetime ago that I did this. I get random messages on the blog & YouTube asking me to return to this blog. So, I'm dipping my toe in the water. Hey out there!

 

Making Changes

So, I've spent 3 and 1/2 years at my current hospital and I've decided to make a change. This decision was not an easy one because I love my current hospital but I have a lot of stress. I currently run three departments...HIM, Billing and EHR. I need to slow down and have solitary focus in my work life right now. 

Sometimes you should take the chance to step out and try something new. I've taken a new position as a regional coding manager for a large hospital system that covers several states. It's going to be different to travel and have coders all over the place but I'm looking forward to the challenge. 

Have you ever stepped out on faith with a new job? How did it turn out for you?

Hello All

I know I've been gone for a while but I've been told that I need to start blogging again, so here I am. I make no hard promises about post because my work life is crazy and I need to get blogging back into my schedule.

I'm still at the same hospital and still super busy. My title has changed to Director of HIM and Billing and I'm still the project manager for the EHR and the liaison for the IT department. Whew, I get tired just talking about it.

EHR Project Manager...

What have I learned so far?

1. I've learned that if someone doesn't work on the project daily then they don't think it's important. 
2. You will become much more organized that you ever thought because if you don't, you'll lose your mind and hold up the project. 
3. You will have to learn to hold your temper and your tongue. 
4. Some people will never have a sense of urgency when they feel that the project doesn't directly affect them or their department. 
5. You will have to have major support from executive leadership because at some point they are going to have to step in and put fire underneath the behinds of others that are not taking your request seriously. 
6. A timeline will become your best friend and your best defense. 

This project has made me have to grow as a leader and I appreciate it.

So, What's Been Going On?

Things have been so busy at work, let me see if I can sum this up quickly:

• My coders and I are finishing up our ICD-10 classes with the newest legislation for another delay on the horizon. 
• My hospital is breaking ground on another hospital and my position is growing into a corporate director position.
• I've added a new position in my department for a coder, so now I'm not the only one coding! YES!!!!
• I'm enrolled into school again to finish my degree. 
• The financial migration into our EHR is almost complete and then we move on to Pharmacy. We have a very aggressive timeline for the clinical portion of our implementation.
• Our outpatient clinics are growing and I might need to add a part time coder.

What's going on with you guys?

I've decided....

To continue the blog. At this point I can only promise one post a week and I'll explain why.

1. I'm the project manager for our EHR implementation and it is more time consuming than I ever expected.
2. I'm in my senior year of school with 11 classes left to take and I'm struggling with my time management.
3. I'm enrolled in ICD-10 classes and this is also a struggle in my time management world.
4. I also have my regular job duties to perform as well.

These past few months have been a struggle for me but I see that several people enjoy my blog and seek my advice and experience.

Thank you for everyone who wrote to me and I truly appreciate it and it meant the world to me.

Sincerely,

Should I Continue?

I'm trying to decide if I'm going to continue with my blogs. I'm kind of at a loss as to what to write about or what's interesting anymore.

If I continue...It'll be in February!

Weekly Goals

I've had a super busy past two weeks with training for our EHR and I'm hoping to fall into some sort of regular routine now. Let's see how I did on my last set of goals.

• Create Roles and Authority for HCS.
• Create new logins and profiles for the training sessions this week. 
• Schedule all 6 training sessions for the next 2 weeks for HCS. 
• Continue to work on the IDT Care Plan form. I actually decided to delegate this project to someone else.
• Get the DNFB down to 2 days.
• Finish decorating the HIM department pumpkin for the hospital contest. Our pumpkin was awesome but another department won.
• Put in a bulk order for binders for the user guides for HCS. 
• Print all of the user guides needed for the training sessions. Remember to include log in instructions.
• Request lunch for next Thursday's training for the chief officers of the hospital.
• Follow up with the head biller for the contract and fee schedule project.
• Run the monthly reports on Thursday for stats.
• Create the recommended suspension list for delinquent physicians.

I kicked butt last week. Now, on to this weeks goals...

• Complete HIPAA policy for electronic communications. 
• Begin framework for overhauling our UR committee and procedure/plan.
• Complete conversion master list for our MPI. 
• Pull chart for this week's UR meeting.

What are your goals for the week?

 

What I've Been Up To??

This is my calender for this week and I'm so mentally tired. What was your week like?

Getting My Head Above Water

When I took my current position it had been vacant for six months due to the previous director retiring and I knew that I had a backlog of work on day one. Within a month the HIM clerk of my department decided to tenure her resignation to move back to south Texas and I was lost because I truly didn't have my bearings at that time.

I hire a new clerk that I'm not able to properly train and orientate to my department because we are both new here and have clue what's going on and what the problem areas are...clearly I'm worried now. Fast forward 10 months and my clerk has to be laid off due to cut backs at the hospital and I'm left alone in a two person department to do EVERYTHING myself.

I'm not painting a pretty picture because it wasn't a pretty picture. There were stacks of non-assembled and non-analyzed charts, backlogged delinquent charts because I didn't have time to chase doctors and I'm losing my mind. Oh, did I mention that we also entered our Joint Commission window for survey? Yep and I as I entered the hospital each day, I prayed to the hospital gods for JC not to show up....

 

Weekly Goals

Let's recap last weeks goals:

• Contact APS regarding census information for outpatient services to relay ADT information to the transcription company.
• Meeting minutes for the EHR implementation project.
• Follow up on EHR projects that are due this Friday.
• In-service the unit secretaries on the new logins for the transcription company.
• Begin audits on the outpatient Time Out forms. (4 month project)
• Complete design on new Interdisciplinary Team Conference/Care Plan forms. A work in progress
• Make sure new employee is listed in ADP and complete time for last week. 
• Get the DNFB down to 2 days.I got it down to 3 days.

Okay, I did pretty good last week but this week is going to be a crazy one. Let's go:

• Create Roles and Authority for HCS.
• Create new logins and profiles for the training sessions this week. 
• Schedule all 6 training sessions for the next 2 weeks for HCS. 
• Continue to work on the IDT Care Plan form.
• Get the DNFB down to 2 days.
• Finish decorating the HIM department pumpkin for the hospital contest.
• Put in a bulk order for binders for the user guides for HCS. 
• Print all of the user guides needed for the training sessions. Remember to include log in instructions.
• Request lunch for next Thursday's training for the chief officers of the hospital.
• Follow up with the head biller for the contract and fee schedule project.
• Run the monthly reports on Thursday for stats.
• Create the recommended suspension list for delinquent physicians.

That's all I can think of right now but it's already a pretty big list. What do you guys have planned for the week? If you're in school what are you studying? Have a great week!

 

Weekly Goals

On my personal blog I do weekly post regarding my goals and I think I'm going to practice that on this blog.

• Contact APS regarding census information for outpatient services to relay ADT information to the transcription company.
• Meeting minutes for the EHR implementation project.
• Follow up on EHR projects that are due this Friday.
• In-service the unit secretaries on the new logins for the transcription company.
• Begin audits on the outpatient Time Out forms. (4 month project)
• Complete design on new Interdisciplinary Team Conference/Care Plan forms.
• Make sure new employee is listed in ADP and complete time for last week. 
• Get the DNFB down to 2 days.

What's your goals for the week?

I've Been Busy!

We are currently having our survey so I'll be back next week!

The Coder

Position Title: Coder
Immediate Supervisor: Director of HIM, Manager of Clinical Data, or Coding Supervisor
General Purpose: to apply the appropriate diagnostic and procedural codes to individual patient health information for data retrieval and analysis and claims processing.

Responsibilities: 

• Abstracts pertinent information from patient records. Assigns ICD-9-CM or HCPCS codes, creating APC or DRG group assignments.
• Queries physicians when code assignments are not straightforward or documentation in the record is inadequate, ambiguous, or unclear for coding purposes. 
• Keeps abreast of coding guidelines and reimbursement reporting requirements. Brings identified concerns to supervisor or department manager for resolution.
• Abides by the Standards of Ethical Coding as set forth by the American Health Information Management Association and adheres to official coding guidelines.

Qualifications: 

• Minimum of successful completion of a coding certificate program in a program with AHIMA approval status. Certification as RHIA, RHIT, CCS, CCS-P, CPC or CPC-H preferred.
• Coding certification from AHIMA preferred. 
• Work experience as a coder or strong training background in coding and reimbursement preferred. 

I always encourage anyone that's an RHIA or RHIT to work as a coder for a few years because it gives you options as a fall back career. Plus you can make some pretty decent money as a part-time or PRN coder.

My HIM Life Right Now!

Work is getting so busy!

We are in full swing for our EHR conversion and are working on the financial portion of the implementation. I've dealt with some many master list that my eyes are crossed. But, I'm so excited to be able to gain this sort of experience as the project manager.

My role at work is expanding so fast that if I think about it too much I might panic. I've added two FTEs and 1 PTE and I've taken on the role of CDI and ICD10 documentation educator for the physicians at my hospital. We've added 3 outpatient clinics and 2 ASC and it's forced me to learn about the outpatient quickly and that's overwhelming.

These changes have forced me to become more aggressive at work but it's yielding great results that have made my chief officers very happy and is adding dollars to our bottom line, that will always put you in the good graces of the chief officers.

It's so nice to work somewhere that appreciates my body of knowledge and skills. That's not something you run across everyday so when you do, enjoy it and be thankful.

What's going on in you HIM life?

Answers Monday

Anonymous submitted this question via comment:

My question is, "If you have Bachelor's degree in Computer Information Systems" could you still be considered qualified to get on in the HIM department of hospital. I am currently taking a Health Information Management career training course from Penn Foster and I was wondering if I would have the credentials to even get hired for these types of positions?

Thank you for your question. Now, CIS people have a huge advantage in the HIM field due to the fact that EHRs are becoming standard in so many facilities. I work in a LTACH and we are in the middle of implementing a full EHR and it enloves so much IT/IS work that someone with that type of experience is greatly desirable.

If I had that type of background the first places I would entertain for possible employment would be the EHR software providers. There's always a need for development and conversion project implementers.  Some of the few companies I'm familiar with are EPIC, Allscripts, HCS Interactant, Softmed, Healthland, and Horizon Patient Folder.

Please read this article to find out opportunities for education/certification options.

I hope that helps!

Hey Everyone!

Source

On Monday, May 13th, with an Answers post!

I Shall Return...

I shall return the first full week in April! I've had a few life changing events and need some time to adjust to my new life and I appreciate everyone's questions and visiting the blog!

Is Coding For Me?

I usually advise so to be graduate to become a coder at some point in their career, get good at it and keep their skills fresh. Why you ask? Because you can always make extra money as a PRN coder.

Coding isn't for everyone. Personally, I don't enjoy sitting in a cubicle reading charts all day and coding. I don't enjoy generating queries or hunting for operative reports and anesthesia times. Yet, I do enjoy having the skill and being able to profit from it. Hospitals are always looking for coder and agencies such as Maxim Healthcare and On Assignment are always looking for coding talent that can be used in several different capacities.

Travel coding is a big thing and could be great if you're single and not tied down to anything. Agency contracts can be short and long term and might suit the personality of different people. Some people like the freedom of being contract coders and almost all enjoy the pay.

I've been a coder in the past but it's the main job function that I have now. Yet, I do PRN work for one of my former full-time employers and I make a really decent supplemental income from few hours of work. So, even though it may not be your thing, getting some coding experience might financial benefit you in the future.

Answers Monday!

From Tiffany M:

I was wondering that as well. Julie.. I am finishing up my degree in Health Information Technology at Devry University which is CAHIIM approved and will be doing my last class which is my internship this May. Also Devry is trying to secure me to do my internship at a hospital nearby me and I will be taking a RHIT prep course with Devry and if I pass the prep course they will pay for me to take my RHIT certification test. I have a year experience of working in a hospital as a Unit Secretary and I am currently working at a medical malpractice insurance company. I want to be a hospital coder. Graduation for me is so close should I try to obtain any position in the hospital now to hopefully move to the coding department atter graduating or just wait until I do my internship this May and hope to secure a position?? Thanks and I love your blog and videos .

I forgot to also add I am planning on taking my RHIT exam this July. I want to take it as early after graduation as possible so the information is fresh on my mind.