An ICD 10 Code By Any Other Name Is Not The Same. Make Sure You Are Maximizing The Use Of Yours!
October 19, 2021
Why The ICD 10 Updates Matter:
- There are changes to what is accepted as a primary diagnosis
- The changes are critical to payment updates under PDGM for home health
- Changes are key to hospice related versus unrelated problems in hospice coverage
- The changes reflect additional specificity necessary in documentation to capture specific codes.
- And, as always, there are discontinued codes or codes made invalid
PDGM Implications:
All things considered including the timelines in PDGM, Oasis and coding become the lifeblood of your agency cash flow. The PDGM case mix weights have been adjusted to accurately reflect utilization seen in each HHRG last year. If you get the diagnosis code wrong, then you lose payment. The ICD 10 codes affect all variables in the HHRG with the exceptions of admission source and timing. If you mark your Oasis wrong, then you potentially lose dollars. The payment is determined by most recent Oasis functional levels with associated diagnosis assignments.
What About A Significant Change In Condition Assessment (SCIC)?
Help Your Coder To Get It Right:
- Ensure all Oasis responses/ hospice comprehensive assessment data supports the diagnosis listed
- Avoid contradictions in the patient record
- Determine a "best-guess" diagnosis in light of: actual orders/ focus of the care plan, clinical assessment, interdisciplinary input , MD confirmation of diagnosis and approval of plan of care, and referral information
- Write a narrative that includes a description of your "best guess" diagnosis in your narrative
- Don't worry about anything related to the numeric codes. Your coder will find the best diagnosis based upon the information you provide.
Let Kenyon Home Care Consulting Be Your ICD 10 Coding HQ:
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HOPE Question and Answer Repository
Today, this article will look at little different than out typical articles. We all know the costs of losing employees and trying to hire and train new ones. It is exhausting and expensive. So, we think about our wages and benefit packages all the time. What can we do differently that makes people stay? We can’t change the job and we don’t want to keep people that don’t like the work itself. So, how do we acknowledge employees in a way that is valuable to them and that our businesses can afford to do? 5 Things To Consider About Employee Recognition At Your Christmas Party: 1. Years of Service: These can be based on milestone work anniversaries (5, 10, 15 yrs, etc.). If a person has been at your agency 11 years, you pull them up and acknowledge them in the group of employees who have been there at least 10 years up until the time they hit the 15 years landmark. This way longevity is recognized yearly. 2. Special Employee awards: Now, this may be difficult if your staff is very small, but acknowledge the employee who has gone the extra mile in the job they do. Tell the story. The employee needs to know when the employer is proud of the work that has been done. Consider a plaque or certificate. Don’t minimize the value of the employee having them to display. 3. Acknowledge all employees in the mix: Because we are a clinical industry, the administrative staff is often overlooked on day-to-day operations. Ultimately, don’t miss the chance to acknowledge the employee who was able to catch billing errors or collect on a large account. Staff doesn’t like to hear about money, but those types of collections keep Christmas bonuses in place! So, make sure the other staff knows the accomplishments of the finance department or the office manager that every caller loves to speak to. Don't ever forget the IT staff that is on call more than any clinical person in your agency! 4. Letters from the administration: Add a personal note to your staff either collectively or individually depending on the size of your agency. If you are larger, there are employees you don’t often see or get to talk to on a regular basis, so take the time so send a note with that Christmas bonus. 5. Consider the Christmas bonus: Listen, some of you can afford to do substantial monetary bonuses and that is fantastic. However, if you are not in that position, consider something in its place. Maybe small gas cards go with the letter from administration. With the cost of groceries, consider something that helps with the costs of daily living for employees. Big box gift cards in your area will always be used. You may do a lot of these things on a yearly basis to employees. All this being said, it doesn’t mean there aren’t reasons for acknowledgement throughout the year. However, your annual Christmas party is a good way to do it collectively. Between your annual party, write the individual cards to employees when you hear a patient interaction worthy of praise. Or, maybe you buy a gas card for the employee who has picked up extra shifts and always shows up on time. Ultimately, employees will feel valued. You will not regret the time, effort, and energy put into these efforts. Merry Christmas! If you want help with recruitment and retention strategies for your agency, please call Kenyon Homecare Consulting at 206-721-5091 or contact us online today.