Thursday, October 30, 2014

Health Information Program Blog - Clinical Documentation Improvement

Clinical Documentation Improvement, or CDI, is a hot topic right now.  It is also a great job opportunity for an RHIA.  It is becomming more and more important as we are nearing ICD-10.  As I look at job sites and the AHIMA job board I see postings for CDI specialists many times a week. 

According to the article that I am sharing with you today,

"In order for the healthcare industry to prepare for new initiatives such as accountable care organizations, pay-for -performance, meaningful use, and a variety of other initiatives, clinical documentation must improve. It is imperative for organizations and providers to continue to seek clarification and guidance on documentation requirements. Top priorities during the next 12 months include identifying documentation gaps, achieving documentation excellence, and providing ongoing education to clinical providers.

Accurate documentation of patient encounters is the foundation for telling the patient’s story, appropriate reimbursement, and quality reporting. As healthcare reform moves quickly towards quality-driven reimbursement, organizations and providers will have to continue to justify care plans and treatment options as well as successfully demonstrate quality outcomes and patient safety. Consistent, complete, and accurate documentation is the key to the economic health of the organization and a key indicator of physician quality. Organizations and providers need to be able to use automated, intuitive tools to successfully implement new technology, new federal requirements, and specific strategic initiatives without comprising patient care."

Here is the article to help you understand what it is all about:

http://perspectives.ahima.org/leading-the-documentation-journey-a-report-from-the-ahima-2014-clinical-documentation-improvement-summit/#.VFIpeU10zIV


Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Health Information Management Program - Fall Term II

This is just a reminder that Monday begins Fall Term II for 2014.  Are you registered???  If not, call your Advisor right away!  Be sure to stay focused on your goal of graduating with a degree - you can do it!

Cindy Glewwe Edgerton, M.Ed, RHIA
Director, Health Information Management Program 
Charter Oak State College
55 Paul J. Manafort Drive
New Britain, CT 06053
(860) 515-3833
cedgerton@charteroak.edu
www.charteroak.edu

Health Information Management Program Blog - ICD-10 and Ebola

This is a great ICD-10 reference that was posted by AHIMA last week!

HOW ICD-10 COULD HELP TRACK EBOLA

With concern about Ebola growing worldwide, a recent infographic from the Coalition for ICD-10 highlights the benefits to public health of coding morbidity and reporting disease data in ICD-10, rather than in ICD-9, which lacks a specific code for Ebola. ICD-10, used throughout the world's industrialized nations and slated for implementation in the US on October 1, 2015, assigns code A98.4 to Ebola. The Coalition says ICD-9's lack of specificity makes it more difficult to monitor outbreaks, share data internationally, and report public health emergencies the World Health Organization in real time.
Access the infographic here:

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

HIM Weekly Wednesday - A Great Website to Explore!

Hi everyone, I hope you are having a great week! 

This is definitely not a sales pitch, but there is a website that I have grown to love because of the free webinars that they do on an ongoing basis.  I want to share it with you for that great resource, but also for the nice software demo videos that you can find on their website.  So, the company is called NextGen and they do several things but one of their main products is an Electronic Health Record (EHR) for physician offices.  I would like to direct you to their page for Ambulatory Health Records and you will see a variety of demos as you scroll down the page.  If you have never seen an EHR this will be a great first peek for you!

https://www.nextgen.com/Products-and-Services/Ambulatory/Electronic-Health-Records-EHR

OK, back to the webinars! From the same link as above, if you hover your mouse over the Resources tab, you will see a long list (you can explore all of those options of course!) and you can click on Webinars.  Then click on Ambulatory and scroll down to see the webinars that are upcoming.  You can also click on Archived Webinars and watch past webinars at your leisure (today 19 are listed!).  While you are there, notice that you can also click on Product Demos and other resources.  See what I mean?  It is a great website!

Remember this website when you need a great idea or a great resource for a paper or other assignment in some of your HIM courses. 

FYI:  You WILL have to register your name and email address but the nice thing about this is that you will get occasional emails announcing new webinars.  As far as I can tell, the are all free!

I hope you enjoy this resource!

Cindy Glewwe Edgerton
HIM Program Director

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

HIM Weekly Wednesday - HIM Survey


Hello HIM Students!  This is a very important topic as I am beginning to plan and prepare for each of your professional practice experiences (or PPE) that is part of the HIM 498 Health Information Management Practicum course.  One of the requirements of HIM 498 is 40 hours of hands-on experience spent at a real healthcare facility.  As you can imagine, this takes a lot of planning and organization for all of us involved and it is never too early to start preparing.  I have prepared a survey that will help me get started.  Please take this as soon as possible.  I do need a response from every one of you so if I don’t get your survey you will get reminders until I do! 

Please take the survey now – it should only take you 5-10 minutes!

Here is the link:


I have sent this email to both your COSC email account and the personal email account we have on file to be sure you receive it!  The email also included an attachment of the Practicum Manual for your review. You will see this again about 3 months before you begin HIM 498 but I want to share it with you now so you will understand the process and can think about locations and possibilities.
 
Until next time,
 
Cindy Glewwe Edgerton, MEd, RHIA
Program Director, Health Information Management

Thursday, August 28, 2014

HIM Weekly Wednesday - Welcome to Fall Term 2014; Attend FREE ICD-10-CM Webinar!

Hello everyone, welcome to the Fall 2014 term at Charter Oak!  I hope your first week has gotten off to a great start and you are excited to be back into learning mode!  We are excited to have you back! 

Please remember that if you have any questions about the program or your classes you can always contact me (Cindy Glewwe Edgerton) or Frank Valier and we are always ready to help you. 

Here is a great opportunity that I want to share with you.  I have registered - I hope you will too!


CMS AND AHIMA TO OFFER JOINT WEBINAR ON ICD-10

AHIMA and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will present a webinar on ICD-10, "ICD-10: The Road Forward," on September 4, at 1 p.m. CT. Denesecia Green, acting director of the Administrative Simplification Group, along with panelists, will discuss key steps to ensuring a successful transition and resources to help with a smooth implementation. CMS will also demonstrate the new "Road to 10" tool, developed in collaboration with physicians to help clinical practices create a customized action plan for ICD-10. Register in advance.
 
Have a great weekend!
Cindy Edgerton, MEd, RHIA
HIM Program Director

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

HIM Weekly Wednesday - Get Motivated for Fall Classes!

Sadly, the summer is almost over.  It always goes way too fast, doesn't it?  :-(   

With the start of the new season comes the start of a new term here at Charter Oak and and that means the beginning of some great new learning opportunities.  Now, I am going to sound like a mom here, but I have always said to my boys and now I will say this to all of you......you get to CHOOSE how well you do in your classes and you get to CHOOSE your priorities!  So I challenge you to CHOOSE to make your classes a priority and CHOOSE to do your best work! Remember your goal of finishing your degree and imagine all of the opportunities it will bring you. 

Are you all scheduled for your fall courses?  If not, be sure to call Frank right away!  Have you ordered your books?

Be sure to make room on your calendar for homework.  I actually schedule it just like it is a class on campus.  My family knows that Tuesday and Thursday nights and Saturday mornings are my homework hours.  Yes, I am in school too!  I don't always stick to the schedule perfectly but most of the time I do and it really helps me keep on track.

Before you know it, it will be time to register for winter!  Winter registration opens on October 1st - it is never too soon to start planning for that.

Classes begin on August 25 - get ready for a great term!