Monthly Archives: February 2012

Can Your Clinical Documentation Live Up to Value-Based Purchasing?

Value Based Purchasing (VBP) is shining an even brighter spotlight on the quality component of healthcare delivery.  VBP is a quality incentive program built on the hospital inpatient quality reporting (IQR) measure and required by the Patient Protection and Affordable … Continue reading

Posted in Case Mix and Reimbursement, Clinical Documentation, Value Based Purchasing | Tagged , , ,

Delay on ICD-10 Compliance Date

Your thoughts on the announcement below?  Surprised, expected, indifferent? HHS Announces Intent to Delay ICD-10 Compliance Date In a new press release from HHS, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that HHS will initiate a process to postpone the compliance date by … Continue reading

Posted in ICD-10 | Tagged , , ,

Hospitalists Play an Important Role in Good Documentation

If we can improve our documentation skills, both physicians and hospitals can get credit where credit is due.  This becomes critical as Medicare ramps up its claims denial and recovery business to help “clean up” the system.  This includes the … Continue reading

Posted in Clinical Documentation | Tagged , , ,

ACOs, a Bonafide Answer?

A January 2012 Wall Street Journal article asked a diverse group of health-care policy experts to discuss, in an exchange of emails, whether ACOs are an answer to what ails the health-care system.  Their panelists were: Donald M. Berwick, who stepped … Continue reading

Posted in Accountable Care Organizations | Tagged , , ,

Open Medicare Database, Good or Bad for Healthcare?

On December 5, 2011 CMS finalized a regulation that will allow its extensive claims database to be used by employers, insurance companies and consumer groups to produce report cards on local doctors and hospitals.  Pursuant to section 10332 of the … Continue reading

Posted in Health Reform, Profiling | Tagged , , , , ,