PMI Announces ICD-10 TEAM Training

Approaching ICD-10 as a Team

We’ve had ICD-10 classes in our curriculum since 2009.  In the fall of 2013, with the initial deadline looming, participants were signing up in significant numbers.

During a trip to Dallas, following a series of ICD-10 beginner classes, I was struck by the attitude of participants signing in for the sessions.  The attitude was BAD.  I have never before experienced such a thing.  Coders and Billers were angry, frustrated, ready to retire, or change careers.  WOW!

I made it a point to come back at the end of the class to get a read on how the day went and make sure no one had slit their wrists.  To my relief, there was no blood on the floor…quite the opposite.  The class was laughing and cutting up, and you could tell there was a sense of relief.  WHAT?

I was able to hold the group back for a moment, and have a discussion about what happened between 9am and 4pm.  Almost without exception, each participant said the same thing.  This isn’t going to be that bad.  So much “grey” had been removed.  It will be much easier to “dial-in” the correct code.

BUT…Again, without exception, every coder realized through the process of learning ICD-10 and the DOCUMENTATION needed to support the new more “specific” code, their providers were not DOCUMENTING ICD-9 correctly.  YIKES!

I brought this information back to our management team and to the faculty meeting the next Monday.  We set out with a mission to gauge the Dallas audience to find out whether or not it was an anomaly.  It was NOT.

For the next several Mondays, faculty members who taught an ICD-10 class in the preceding week reported the same response from audiences.  We’ve always known documentation was an issue, but that wasn’t the surprise.  The surprise was that because of ICD-10 looming, the office had a real incentive to get it right.  Get it right in preparation for ICD-10, but also take advantage of getting it right currently for ICD-9.

With ICD-10 delayed till October 1, 2015, PMI has taken the past few weeks to fall back, re-group and prepare for how to move forward.

Moving Forward

ICD-10 is monumental shift for the Healthcare industry.  Even the statement doesn’t do it justice.  Seldom does a change like this impacts the ENTIRE Healthcare world.  Each and every entity within the healthcare sphere, must adopt the new language we all must speak.  We realize that for most practices, this is one of the bigger changes the business might have every gone through, hence the angst mentioned above.  Sadly, we have also ascertained from the very same audiences mentioned that most practices are relying on vendors to make it alright...HOLY SMOKES!

Since this change impacts the entire “Healthcare System” in the US, and because it certainly impacts everyone and every system within your practice, we’ve elected to create a program focused on getting YOUR TEAM ready for the transition.

The number ONE comment made on evaluation forms at the conclusion of a class is, "I wish my provider was here." Since our ICD-10 Training Classes began, we’ve only taught one job function at a time.  We’ve either focused on the coding or the management perspective.  Providers for the most part have been done in very short brief overview sessions. We realized it was essential to have the entire team present.

With the TEAM approach, we’ve created a class for the coder, the manager and the provider.  It is a way for individuals to understand each person’s role and responsibility in preparing for ICD-10 as well as work together to actively prepare a plan for implementation. I encourage you to visit the PMI Website to find out more about the ICD-10 Transition TEAM Training.

At the end of the day, our goal is to help you to gain the tools you need to:

Train together, implement together, and succeed together.

David

Thanks for following and sharing!

Time to Write!

As I look back over my postings, and lack thereof, it's time to get busy.  Most of my postings have been about technology and productivity.  It's time to start posting about what I actually do for a living.

Practice Management Institute is the nation's leading provider of medical office management education.  We serve two audiences.  Providers and Medical Practices and the staff within is one audience.  Our other audience consists of Hospitals, Healthcare Systems and Medical Societies who have providers and practices as customers.

It has taken me twenty plus years to make it that simple.

Running a medical practice is a tough business when it comes to dealing with Third Party Payers, Insurance Companies, Medicare, Medicaid, Co-Insurance, Deductibles, Co-Pays, HIPAA, OSHA, just to mention a few.

PMI is dedicated to the men and women who run the business side of medicine, so clinicians can focus on practicing medicine.

I'm very proud to be the President and CEO of such a fantastic organization.  We just recently held our National Conference in Chicago.  It was great to connect with our audience, professionals who have made the business of medicine their career.

We've got a really fantastic TEAM here at PMI, and we look forward to serving our audiences through the trials and tribulations ahead!

Thanks for following and sharing!

David

Disconnected, and connected.

Amazing.  As soon as I posted the previous entry, I turned to the young lady on my right.  She was only one of two people in the waiting area connected to paper, and not a device.

Elise.  An arial artist dancer.  A what?  Turns out Elise is headed to Georgia to hook up with a circus troupe.  A group of women she's performed with before.  She actually lives in San Antonio and teaches some form of arial dancing.  It was funny.  She and I talked about how people don't connect anymore. Everyone is simply plugged into their device.  I told her in the past few months of making it a point to connect with people, it always seems to be one extreme or the other.  I'm either introduced to something totally brand new, or experience a "small world" moment.  Elise was certainly on the "new" side of the spectrum.

Which brings me to the other extreme, and my flight mate to Houston.  Casey, from K.C.  You can't make that up.  Casey is headed back home to K.C. for the Chiefs football game.  He and his family have season tickets, and he makes every home game.  Turns out Casey is in the oil / gas business and is a petroleum land man in San Antonio.  I grew up in Miland, TX.  Surrounded by oil / gas my whole life.  Was even studying to be a PLM when I started college.  I'm headed to New Orleans for a bachelor party weekend for my younger brother.  My brother is marrying a girl from Tyler, TX.  Casey's girlfriend is from Tyler.

Again, amazing.  Brand new experience, and small world moment.  All in the span of a "disconnected" hour.

Stay disconnected my friends!

Our disconnected, connected reality.

Sitting in an airport this morning.  Watching the waiting area. A full 80% of soon to be fliers, are connected to some type of digital device. Half of those have headphones on.  With the exception a little one running around, everyone is completely consumed with their device.

No conversation.  No interaction. Reality. 

Sad.  I'm going to turn my device off and shake it up!

Blackberry Q10 - One Week In

One week in and I'm loving the BB Q10 experience.  I felt compelled to write this now given that BBRY just announced its quarterly financials and the stock has taken a hit.

I'M THRILLED so far with both the new Blackberry OS 10, and specifically the Q10.  I've spent many hours the past few evenings putting the device through its paces and learning more about it.  Moving from the iPhone 5 has been a bit of an adjustment.  It's going to sound strange, but it's been the "unplugging" part of the experience I've enjoyed most of all.

I used to spend too much time "searching" for things on my iPhone.  I was looking for things to be done.  They just never seemed to find me in a way that worked.  With the BB Q10, the only time I've spent searching is in my learning mode.  I wrote earlier about the Hub.  It's fantastic!  Everyone of my email and social media feeds, is in the Hub.  If I want to track anything, I just open the Hub.

I'm also very satisfied with the "contact" features.  When I pull up a contact, I can easily see their updates and our communication history.  Big Gold Star!!

Keep following!

David