Posts by Norwood Staffing
Tonya Motsinger: Surviving and thriving in an evolving CDI landscape
Listen to the episode here: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/c6FFYxoXZMb With 25 years’ experience in medical/surgical, critical care, and emergency department medicine, Tonya Motsinger has seen her share of crises. COVID-19 was a crisis of a far larger scale. The pandemic wreaked havoc not only on patients, but her CDI department, resulting in staff shortages. Today OhioHealth’s System…
Read MoreThe ROI of Staffing—How one organization made the case
High-quality coding and CDI professionals are costly. Labor expenses as a whole comprise over 50% of a facility’s expenses. But strategic staffing can actually boost your ROI. One of our partners saw a significant return by optimizing coverage rates. Download the full article and uncover the secrets to maximizing your staffing investment.
Read MoreBridging divides: Leif Laframboise on merging the clinical and financial through data
Listen to the episode here: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/n2tsZSPmCMb Bridging the gap between clinical and financial worlds is the goal of CDI and coding, but it’s much easier said than done. One way to reconcile this schism is through data—objective numbers that don’t lie, but can speak to both sides of this seemingly irreconcilable chasm. Associate Director of…
Read MoreNorwood MS-DRG audit results in substantial DNFB reduction, missed revenue opportunities
Even with the rapid growth of risk adjusted payments, Medicare Severity DRGs (MS-DRGs) remain the principal reimbursement mechanism for most healthcare organizations. But despite their relative maturity there is always room to improve MS-DRG assignment. Missed complications/comorbidities (CC) and major CCs, inaccurate principal diagnosis assignment, and non-specific/symptom DRGs lead to underreported severity of illness.…
Read MoreNew CMS FAQ sheds additional light on compliant use of new HCPCS add-on code G2211
By Brian Murphy Attention coders and mid-revenue cycle professionals: CMS has released a frequently asked questions (FAQ) document for new HCPCS add-on code G2211. Link below. My colleague Crystal May wrote an article about this interesting but troublesome new code (which went into effect Jan. 1), summarizing the guidance we had to…
Read MoreLatest OIG report: $59M reasons to ensure accurate HCC capture
Latest OIG report: $59M reasons to ensure accurate HCC capture By Jason Jobes Want $59M worth of reasons to ensure accurate HCC capture? Read the latest OIG audit report of Medicare Advantage, this time of MMM Healthcare. While the penalty was only $165k, had extrapolation started in 2017 (the time period of…
Read MoreNew CMS claims-based surgical quality measure is in effect; are you ready?
By Brian Murphy In the 2025 IPPS final rule CMS finalized its proposal to replace PSI-4 (Death Rate Among Surgical Inpatients with Serious Treatable Complications) with a new claims-based measure: The Thirty-day Risk-Standardized Death Rate among Surgical Inpatients with Complications (Failure-to-Rescue). In fact, this change has already taken place. This new measure…
Read MoreCould Supreme Court Chevron ruling bring chaos to medical coding and billing? Possibly.
By Brian Murphy The traditional authority granted to institutions has been steadily eroded in recent years, and in the wake of the landmark Chevron ruling it’s been dealt another blow. Could medical coding be next? I draw your attention to this thoughtful article by HIM expert Rose Dunn, on the blog of Libman…
Read MoreMoving up and leaving behind: Robin Jones on growing into leadership
Listen to the episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6I6v7JrBwt8Xf73RfWmBGF?si=cHXeDeKeSWiZoyLfyoh5Ag Robin Jones moved to Florida at the tail end of 2017 to pursue a burgeoning career in CDI. And ever since has done nothing but climb the professional ladder. Leaving behind her home in Cincinatti Ohio and a decorated career in CDI at Mercy Health, Robin started over as…
Read MoreOIG report on mechanical ventilation raises compliance red flags
By Brian Murphy Medicare improperly paid hospitals an estimated $79 million for patients who received mechanical ventilation. Is your healthcare organization among them? The OIG released a new report taking aim at MS-DRGs 207 and 870. It selected for review a random, stratified sample of 250 claims submitted between 2015-2021 with payments…
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