News
Norwood welcomes CDI expert Deanne Wilk to Solutions team
We’d like to welcome the latest edition to our Norwood Solutions team… Deanne Wilk! If you’ve been involved in ACDIS and/or the CDI profession over the last decade, odds are you’ve seen Deanne. She served on the ACDIS advisory board (2017-2020) where she helped develop industry guidance and white papers. If you haven’t seen her…
Read MoreGood coding, CDI Practices can Reduce CMS Hospital Readmissions Reduction Penalties
By Brian Murphy Is your hospital among the nearly 2,300 dinged for excessive readmissions (“excessive” as defined by the parameters of the CMS Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program, or HRRP)? The latest HRRP numbers are out. Kaiser Health News always does a great job covering the details. Link below. Per KHN, CMS evaluated 2.5 years of…
Read MoreCoding Tip: Reporting additional diagnoses in the outpatient setting
Are you one of those coding professionals who anxiously awaits the quarterly release of AHA Coding Clinic? There’s nothing like that feeling when you open the latest issue and read through the latest and greatest nuggets of wisdom. It is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get! Sometimes it’s…
Read MoreChatGPT, problem lists, and Recovery Auditors… oh my!
Three CDI and coding related thoughts … A dark vision of ChatGPT. In case you’ve been living under a rock, there’s a new AI-powered program called ChatGPT that can generate readable (perhaps good? At least usually quite understandable) copy from prompts entered by a human user. This development has generated angst and anxiety, but…
Read MoreAHA critiques Medicare Advantage, makes recommendations regarding sepsis criteria, SDOH, and medical necessity determinations
By Brian Murphy The American Hospital Association’s commentary to CMS on the Medicare Advantage (MA) program CY 2024 proposed rule is a good read … if you are a CDI and coding policy wonk who likes this sort of thing. As I do. Because it offers a candid look into who wields the ultimate power…
Read MoreThe problems with the problem list are many, including invalid HCC assignment and compliance risks
The problem list. (I can’t bear to say, “it’s a problem,” because that’s almost as cliché as, “if it’s not documented, it’s not done.”) But I went ahead and just said both. Anyway, the problem list is both of source of great information for coding and CDI specialists for query, while also…
Read MoreNorwood named one of the Top 100 Staffing Companies to Work For in 2023
Hey, we here at Norwood like to think we’re a pretty good staffing (and consulting) firm to work for. Of course, we’re a little biased. But now, we don’t have to say it ourselves! We’re incredibly proud/stoked to announce that the World Staffing Awards have named Norwood as a Top Staffing Company to Work for…
Read MoreRisk Adjustment Data Validation (RADV) Final Rule Out: What it Means for Your Organization
By Brian Murphy The Risk Adjustment Data Validation (RADV) final rule is out. Others have covered the news better than I (see links below for what the rule says). Rather than add another voice in the chorus of “it’s out” I thought I’d voice a few thoughts on what the fallout will be, and should…
Read MoreRecommended CDI/coding Resources to Follow
By Brian Murphy Someone asked me in a recent post, “I want to stay up on CDI/coding/reimbursement news to help my career… what do you recommend?” Here is what I do. Subscribe to these e-mail newsletters: Office of Inspector General (OIG). A rundown of what the chief enforcer and protector of the Medicare Trust Fund…
Read MoreHealthgrades Rankings are out; How Much do they Matter to your Hospital?
By Brian Murphy Healthgrades has released its annual awards, including America’s Best 50, 100, and 250 Hospitals. You can view complete details in the link below. But how much do they really matter? These are broken out by state; in my home state of Massachusetts Lahey Hospital and Medical Center has now earned a third…
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