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Ask the Expert
Have a coding or transcription question? Get an expert answer by sending an
e-mail to edit@gvpub.com.

This month’s selection:
My coworkers and I are looking for advice on coding and reimbursement for CPT 76705. Our trauma surgeons purchased a portable ultrasound machine that is kept in the trauma bay at the hospital and is used only by the trauma surgeons in trauma cases. The problem we are encountering is the claims are being denied as a physician billing for POS emergency department, outpatient hospital, inpatient hospital, etc. Even if we attempt to bill for only the interpretation portion, we are still receiving denials because the carrier never receives a claim for the technical portion from the hospital.

Cristy Donaldson, CPC, CPMA
Knoxville, Tennessee

Read the response »
Editor's E-Note
Be accountable. It’s a simple credo but one that resonates in many walks of life, including healthcare. The federal government has reinforced that idea by establishing accountable care organizations in an effort to improve quality and lower costs.

This month’s E-News Exclusive spotlights the Michigan Pioneer ACO, a group of providers that’s utilizing HIT to make a difference in patients’ lives.

— Lee DeOrio, editor
E-News Exclusives
NEMT
Partners in Progress
By Maura Keller

More than 10 years ago, Hospice of Michigan and the University of Michigan conducted a study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that demonstrated that no matter how informed people were about hospice care, when faced with terminal illness, 60% to 70% did not want it. The majority with a terminal diagnosis wanted to pursue treatment and a possible cure.

“In 2000, with the results in hand, we realized that people who would benefit from comprehensive care were unlikely to receive it,” says Tracy Lark, corporate director of communications at Hospice of Michigan. “They didn’t want hospice care, and there was no comprehensive alternative to hospice. Without comprehensive care, the burdens of the illness and care fall primarily on the patient and the primary caregiver.”

Hospice of Michigan wanted to do something to help patients and caregivers facing this dilemma. “We thought patients and families should have a better option than going it alone, and we worked on a model that answered a lot of the ‘what if’ questions that we had,” Lark says. “We established @HOMe Support in 2000 and took our first patient in 2002.”

Full Story »
Recently in For The Record
Big Data Creates Big Privacy Concerns
Larger databases of health information are creating new opportunities for improper access and potential breaches. Read more »

Filling the Void — Unraveling the Cancer Registrar Shortage
The perfect storm—an increase in cancer programs and a decline in new registrars—has created a prime opportunity for HIM professionals considering a career change. Read more »

Avoiding the Power of Suggestion
Leading queries can have serious ramifications, making it imperative to present the appropriate options to physicians. Read more »

MTs Seek a Fair Shake
Medical transcriptionists are questioning whether they can survive on the current pay scale. Read more »
Industry Insight
M*Modal Appoints Chief Medical Information Officer

M*Modal, a provider of clinical documentation services and speech understanding technology solutions, recently announced that Jonathan A. Handler, MD, FACEP, has joined M*Modal as chief medical information officer, a new position at the company. In this role, Handler will focus his expertise and unique viewpoint as a physician on the design and implementation of M*Modal’s technology solutions, helping to further drive excellence and innovation across the company’s clinical and medical informatics products and services.

Handler is a board-certified emergency physician with 20 years of experience in medical informatics. In addition to more than a decade of clinical practice at academic medical centers, he previously served as the Health Solutions Group’s chief deployment architect at Microsoft, director of Azyxxi development at the National Institute for Medical Informatics, and director of emergency medicine research and informatics at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where he remains an adjunct associate professor of emergency medicine.

Read more »
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Other News
EHR Data Show Rise in Peanut Allergies
An electronic records system has helped a Minnesota county get a sharper read on the number of children with peanut allergies, Fox News reports.

Chopra Defends HIT Approach
At the recent AHIMA conference, former federal chief technology officer
Aneesh Chopra defended President Obama's HIT vision, according to mobihealthnews.
AHIMA Conference Recap
AHIMA Calls for Improved Health Information Governance to Unify Standards for EHR Use

AHIMA is calling for improved and unified health information governance to standardize EHR use to ensure the technology fulfills its promise of guiding better, more efficient patient care.

AHIMA is ready to work with healthcare industry providers, health plans, quality organizations, and vendors as well as Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish standards so that healthcare providers have clear principles to guide their patient documentation.

Aspects of health information governance were addressed throughout AHIMA’s recent 84th Annual Convention and Exhibit in Chicago. Additionally, the organization will bring together industry leaders to discuss data integrity at its Health Information Integrity Summit: “The Quest for Safe, Usable, Quality Data in EHRs” on November 8 and 9 in Chicago. This spotlight on EHRs provides an opportunity for experts and those working in the field to discuss the latest insights and developments into an issue that affects every aspect of the healthcare system.

Read more »
Tech & Tools
Everist Genomics CardioDefender
Smartphone technology meets personalized medicine in Everist Genomics' CardioDefender diagnostic system. CardioDefender is the world's first FDA-approved and CE mark-registered smartphone electrocardiogram system to provide physicians and patients with hospital-quality heart rhythm monitoring outside the hospital setting. Learn more »

Mobile Essentris Perinatal
CliniComp’s Mobile Essentris Perinatal is available for use on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets and provides convenience and added safeguards of real-time fetal surveillance maternal monitoring. Through the Maternal/Fetal Status Board, clinicians can quickly identify patients in need of immediate care and view in real time their fetal records to document actions wirelessly. Learn more »

Pyromaker
Precise information about an individual’s genetic makeup is often used to develop tailored treatments for cancer. A team of Johns Hopkins researchers has developed an easy-to-use online computer software application that can identify meaningful gene mutations faster and cheaper than other methods currently used to do the job. The software application, called Pyromaker, generates simulated pyrograms, which are readouts from a gene sequencing technique known as pyrosequencing. Pyromaker is available for free and includes a tutorial. Learn more »

CarePartners Plus Wellby
Wellby by CarePartners Plus is an interactive healthcare management solution for use in physician offices, hospitals, worksites, and retail pharmacies to collect and exchange feedback from patients at the point of care immediately following their treatment. Wellby helps document the effectiveness of services delivered to every patient at every visit. Learn more »
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