Is Nursing Butting Heads With Your ICD 10 Coders? Clinical And Nursing Practice Implications That Impact Coding.
August 21, 2021
Bridging The Gap Between The Coding And The Clinical:
The reality of ICD 10 coding is that the RN has to have his or her name on the document. So, when there is coding and clinical conflict, nurses have the right and the duty to question before their names are on the 485. When speaking to nursing staff, encourage questions and dialogue between the two departments. Nurses should question what doesn't make sense to them. Ultimately, the coder is just as capable of human as error as anyone else. So, if it doesn't make sense, then the RN should question the coder. Second, we often see nurses disagree with the order the diagnoses are listed on the 485. This is especially common for seasoned nurses who were in the field prior to ICD 10. Based upon the rules of coding, the order of the list may make complete sense when following coding today's guidelines. Simply having an open dialogue between coding and nursing can remedy this issue in the future.
If you have in-house ICD 10 coding, then it may make huge sense to invest some time into some basic education to nursing staff from the coders. This can clear up future questions and issues nursing may have with your coding. If you outsource, then have your coding solution assign key contacts to complete your coding. It becomes very frustrating for nursing staff if they do not have a primary contact they work with often. You can certainly see where there is a lack of trust or rapport between coding and nursing if the RN never speaks to the same coder. Next, your coding solution should be willing to work with nursing staff to alleviate any questions or concerns from nursing. If they are not, then you don't have the right solution on your home health team.
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At Kenyon Homecare Consulting
, we have seasoned certified ICD 10 coding solutions that can complete basic coding up and through review of the Oasis and 485. Let us help bridge the gap between clinical and coding by providing skilled staff to complete your coding and work through the needs of the nursing staff in your agency. Call us at 206-721-5091 or contact us online
to see how we can help you today!
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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.