Brazil Discovers an Even Better Exercise Program than Soccer
Wednesday Humor: How Will This Be Billed?
Jobs Disappearing (But Not in Healthcare)
An interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal discusses the likely permanent loss of jobs during the Great Recession of 2009. Obviously, fields closely related to the credit and housing bubbles at the root of the current recession – mortgage brokerages, financial industry, home building etc. – have shed jobs which may never return. Also, jobs in industries that can be automated by ongoing developments in IT – secretarial, mailroom, etc. – are also probably gone for good. Add to this mix, the increasing practice of offshoring tech-enabled jobs to emerging, low-cost labor markets like China and India and it becomes apparent that it may take years for the US to return to employment levels seen pre-recession in 2006.
What was the one bright spot according to the US Labor Department? Jobs in the healthcare field. Training for service in the healthcare field puts you at the forefront of the career market for the next decade. Congratulations! Did You Know that Billing and Coding Specialists are Health Information Management professionals?
So who are health information professionals? We are credentialed professionals who manage individual health records as well as aggregate data. We carry expertise in health care databases, medical classification systems, flow of clinical information, medico-legal issues, uses of health information, and data security systems. Our common purpose is to provide reliable and valid information that drives the healthcare industry. We are specialists in administrating information systems, managing medical records, coding information for reimbursement and research. We are uniquely qualified to:
- Provide expertise on compliance issues and the integration of clinical documentation and coding with the billing process.
- Provide assistance and function as a key resource/project manager for the development, transition, and maintenance of an electronic health record
- Assist with implementation and function as a key resource on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) including information system security issues and privacy.
- Develop, implement and monitor health information department policy and procedures and job descriptions.
- Provide training and orientation to health information personnel on functions of the department and facility staff on documentation.
- Develop and maintain health information systems and processes that meet regulatory requirements (both state and federal), professional practice standards, legal standards, and management/corporate policy.
- Establish a process for systematically reviewing documentation on an ongoing basis for both quality and quantity of documentation.
- Complete documentation/medical record audits and monitoring with an ability to assess the quality of documentation.
- Recommend corrective actions for findings on medical record audits/monitoring.
- Initiate clinical record systems and indexes.
- Assist with forms development and forms analysis/flow.
- Support compliance process of facility/organization.
- Support quality assurance/quality improvement process of the facility/organization.
- Train staff on quality assurance/quality improvement process related to health information management and appropriate methods for the collection of data.
- Provide resources to the facility on health information, documentation, regulations, standards of practice, etc.