Are Your Nurses Still Doing Your Coding? Get Your Nurses Back In Their Swim Lane Now. Avoid Mistakes and Loss Of Reimbursement.

Remember when we nurses did our own coding in the times of ICD-9? It was pretty basic. Then, along comes ICD 10 coding. It was a whole different ball game. Now, we have a much more complicated Oasis and codes that are no longer 3 digits of specificity. How can your nurses do a complete Oasis assessment and patient specific care planning and be expected to be expert ICD 10 coders at the same time. They can’t.

4 Reasons Nurses Need To Give Up ICD 10 Coding:

In many agencies, the nurse still does his or her own coding. If you are one of those agencies, then it is time to make a change. Here are 4 big reasons to have your nurses give up coding:

1.    Accuracy: The bottom line is that you can’t have individuals who are not coding and Oasis certified doing the job. It is too complicated a job. The professional nurse needs to be just that: a professional nurse. There are too many things related to outcomes, Oasis, and proper care planning to then expect the nurse to spend the adequate time it takes for accurate coding.

2.    Time: So, let’s say you have a nurse that will take the time to really dig deep and get the right code and understand how it interacts with the Oasis data. What did that cost you? Is it really cheaper than outsourcing ICD 10 coding and getting your code done correctly right out of the gate. Most likely, it isn’t.

3.    Dollars: Those certified in ICD-10 and Oasis will make sure the code is correct for the documentation that is present. They will make sure you get the correct amount of reimbursement to take care of the patient. On the other hand, our experience is that agencies with nurses doing their own coding have significantly less of an HHRG and reimbursement per episode. Again, we cannot expect our nurses to be experts at everything.

4.    Auditing: When it comes time for ADR or if you are a state doing the Review Choice Demonstration, you can’t afford to have claims kicked back for improper coding and you could set yourself up for full blown audit. Make sure you have the right code the first time.

Kenyon Homecare Consulting Can Be Your Coding HQ:

At Kenyon Homecare Consulting , we have certified coders who are also Oasis certified. Regardless of the level of coding you want, we can provide it. We can do the basic code, coding and oasis review, discharge oasis, employee tracking for oasis accuracy and more. Call us today at 206-721-5091 or contact us online to see how we can help you reach your ICD goals.