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White Paper Details Technology’s Impact on CDI

From For the Record AHIMA and the Association of Clinical Documentation Integrity Specialists (ACDIS) released a new white paper that examines how rapid advancement in health care technology is driving changes to the practice of clinical documentation integrity (CDI). CDI is critical to the usability of medical data and ongoing efforts to improve patient care. New technologies, such as artificial…

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Omicron makes up 95% of all new US cases: CDC

Gabrielle Masson for Becker’s Hospital Review The omicron variant accounted for an estimated 95.4 percent of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. for the week ending Jan. 1, according to CDC data. Just the previous week, the variant accounted for an estimated 58.6 percent of COVID-19 cases. That count was revised from an initial CDC estimate that projected omicron…

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Book excerpt: A brief history of query practice briefs

By Karen Newhouser, RN, BSN, CCDS, CCDS-O, CCS, CDIP, CCM from the ACDIS CDI Blog As the CDI and coding professions continue to evolve, query guidance methods have changed along with them. The first industry standard brief, “Developing a Physician Query Process,” published by AHIMA in 2001, set the foundation for the compliant query practice.…

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22% of physicians considering early retirement amid COVID-19: 4 stats to know

By Patsy Newitt for Becker’s Hospital Review COVID-19 caused a slight increase in physician retirement, but nearly three-quarters of physicians reporting being overworked, according to Doximity’s “2021 Physician Compensation Report” released Dec. 16. Here are four stats to know: Twenty-two percent of physicians are considering early retirement because of overwork. Sixteen percent of physicians are…

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Burnout and staffing shortages collided with COVID-19 in 2021 to create the perfect storm

Susan Morse for Healthcare Finance  Through the bad – workforce shortages and lost revenue – and the good – the rise of telehealth and Hospital-at-Home models – COVID-19 changed, and will continue to change, the way hospitals and providers strategize their business models and care for patients. Along the way, digital technology stepped in to help executives make…

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States ranked by percentage of population fully vaccinated: Nov. 10

By Katie Adams for Becker’s Hospital Review Vermont has the highest percentage of its population fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the CDC’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration data tracker. The CDC’s data tracker compiles data from healthcare facilities and public health authorities. It updates daily to report the total number of people in each state who…

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Q&A: Relationship between hypertension and CKD

For ACDIS CDI Blog Q: I’ve been told that if there are clinical indicators to support that chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the etiology of a patient’s hypertension, a code from category I15 would be assigned. Code I12 is for hypertensive CKD, isn’t it? So why do we have to use I15 codes instead? What’s…

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The era of surprise medical bills may be ending

By for Annie Nova for CNBC KEY POINTS The No Surprises Act, which takes effect in 2022, will greatly reduce the number of unanticipated out-of-network medical bills that many people are hit with during emergency medical treatment. “These bills are really the epitome of lack of choice combined with high prices that people experience every…

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CMS penalizes 2,499 hospitals for high readmissions: 5 things to know

By Ayla Ellison for Becker’s Hospital Review In fiscal year 2022, CMS will penalize 2,499 hospitals for having too many Medicare patients readmitted within 30 days, according to federal data analyzed by Kaiser Health News. This is the 10th year of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program. To determine penalties for fiscal year 2022, CMS used patient…

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Urology Coding Q&A: Can you explain the difference and appropriate use of modifier -57 vs -25?

By Jonathan Rubenstein, MD, Mark Painter for Urology Times “As always, document well and use the modifiers when appropriate,” advise Jonathan Rubenstein, MD, and Mark Painter. Can you explain the difference and appropriate use of modifier -57 vs -25? Although this may seem like a basic question for many coders, some do not fully understand the difference…

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