Bulletins
MURER CODING CONSULTANT NAMED AMONG NATION'S
TOP 10 IN HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
The nation's leading Health Information publication, Advance for Health Information Professionals, has named Murer Coding Consultant, Lynn Kuehn, MS, RHIA, CCS-P, PCS, CHAP, FAHIMA, as one of the Nation's Top Ten Helth Information Management Professionals for 2010. With over 20 years experience in the healthcare industry, in her role at Murer Ms. Kuehn provides operational assessment, coding and reimbursement system assessment, data quality management, compliance training, and information systems management for physician practices, surgery centers, and ancillary diagnostic service providers.
CHERILYN MURER ON PANEL AT 2009 ANNUAL INFORMATION INTEGRITY CONFERENCE
On Tuesday, November 17, 2009, Cherilyn Murer was a part of the Healthcare, Data Governance and Information Integrity Legal Issues Panel at the 2009 Annual Information Integrity Conference held at Northern Illinois University - Naperville Campus in Naperville, Illinois. Broadly speaking, Information Integrity (I*I) refers to the dependability and trustworthiness of information. Integrity of information inputs is essential for effective judgment formation, opportunity assessment, problem solving and decision making in both the for-profit and the not-for-profit sectors. The theme of this panel was medicine, which demands accuracy, consistency and reliability of information. Governance, Compliance and Law offer bounds and context for assuring information integrity. The four panelists along with a moderator presented and discussed their ideas as to what is needed to advance or improve information integrity in medicine. The Information Integrity ideas presented by Ms. Murer are attached.
CHERILYN MURER DISCUSSES HEALTH REFORM ON CHICAGO RADIO
Murer Consultants is pleased to announce that on Saturday, September 12, Cherilyn Murer had the pleasure and honor of being a guest on the "Back on the Beat" Radio Program live with Dick Kay on WCPT-AM/FM, a CNN affiliate. Mr. Kay's topic Saturday was Health Care Reform; his guests were Illinois Senator Dick Durbin and Cherilyn Murer. Senator Durbin was on during the second hour of the program; Cherilyn spoke of healthcare reform, then took questions, during the third hour. If you would like to hear Cherilyn's portion of this show, please click here.
For the last four decades, Dick Kay has been one of the biggest names in Chicago news and politics. In 2009 he retired from Chicago's WMAQ-TV where he held the longest on-air TV news job in the history of that station. Mr. Kay reported on virtually every significant local and national political event for over thirty-eight years. In addition, he was host of Channel Five's (WMAQ) outstanding political program, "City Desk". Very few people in the history of Chicago journalism have the knowledge and experience of Dick Kay. Mr. Kay now has a three-hour weekly radio show, "Back on the Beat", giving Chicago the opportunity to hear a completely different side of himself in addition to the political side they already know.
Mr. Kay's website (www.doogiesplace.com) also has a link to this radio program. All three hours of this September 12 show are on his website under "Podcasts".
UNIVERSITY OF ST. FRANCIS SYMPOSIUM EXPLORES HEALTH CARE ISSUES
In today's tumultuous times, healthcare providers must navigate the waters with neither pessimism nor fear; but with a strong does of practicality and pragmatism. Cherilyn Murer challenged more than 200 participants of a health care symposium and live webinar at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois, as she discussed the application of various business strategies and techniques in an unprecedented and unstable financial and political environment. Ms. Murer gave a presentation, "Overcoming the Struggle: Health Care's Journey Through the EpiCenter of Change", to both live and webcam audiences on June 11, 2009. Reducing the cost of health care will require streamlined care, a focus on quality and efficiency, better coordination of care, adherence toe vidence-based practices and better use of health care information technology. There are 1,000 Top 100 Hospitals in this country; quality and efficiency can no longer be just a slogan. Everyone -- individuals accessing care, clinicians and health care organizations -- needs to change their behaviours. Reducing the cost of health care will require streamlined care, focus on quality and efficienty, better coordination of care, adherence to evidence-based pratices and better use of health care information technology. "It's hard work and we need people to step up to the plate", she said.
The symposium also featured a panel discussion examining patient satisfaction, the future of private insurance relative to a national health care plan, and the importance of occupational health programs.
CHERILYN MURER DELIVERS PRESENTATION TO GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
On May 6, 2009, Cherilyn G. Murer, President and CEO of Murer Consultants, Inc., gave a presentation to the Government Affairs Committee of Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple, Texas. Her presentation, The American Health Care Delivery System 2009 to 2020, consisted of the key components of the system:
- Leadership
- Stewardship
- Universality of Commitment
- Technology
- Integrated Health Delivery System
- Diagnostic & Procedure-Based Clinical Protocols
- Uniformity of Clinical Practice Patterns
- Evidence & Outcome-Based Medicine
- Transparency
- Financial Management
- Quality Measures
- Organization
- Creativity
- Staffing
Also on the horizon for this system are the key issues of:
- EMR
- Universal Use
- Interoperability
- Managed Cost
- Telemedicine
- Uniformity of Use
- Privacy/Confidentiality
- Integration with On-Site Providers
- Reimbursement
Leadership is a reconfirmation of an evolving vision and mission with excellence as the baseline. Leadership takes self-examination with an ability to make decisions and handle crises. As a team, leaders need to be able to build consensus focusing on the whole rather an individual.
The responsibilities of the Fiduciary go beyond the organization's doors. Fiduciaries need to use the best efforts possible to protect, maintain and nourish the organization, while protecting and leveraging funds and assets. They have a duty to be compliant with all state and federal regulations in the spirit as well as the letter of the law as well as embracing change as an opportunity.
The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 established the Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program as a demonstration program to identify improper Medicare payments - both overpayments and underpayments. RAC may attempt to identify improper payments that result from any of the following:
- Incorrect payment amounts
- Non-covered services
- Incorrectly coded services
- Duplicate services
- Medicare claims through the complex post payment review process where it is probable that a duplicate primary payment was made
- Medicare claims through the complex post payment review process where it is probable that a Medicare Secondary Payer situation has occurred
Most overpayments occur when providers submit claims that do not comply with Medicare's coding or medical necessity policies.
All venues within the healthcare delivery system must have the medical necessity requiring the specific level of care delivered. Once the patient no longer meets criteria for the specific level of care, case management must facilitate movement to the next appropriate level of care including discharge to home. It is critical to move patients at the right time and place in order to support medical necessity and receive appropriate payment. Physicians, nurses, case managers, and administrators are all responsible for moving the patient through the continuum of care. A recalibration of peer expectations often requires significant behavioral change, which will help enhance the need for optimizing length of stay.
Benchmarking, in simplistic terms, is the process where you compare how well your facility is doing in comparison to others. By making comparisons the facility strives to improve quality of care. Benchmarks can incorporate a number of key areas including: clinical, financial, and regulatory. Benchmarks should be predetermined and closely monitored. This helps maintain accountability of operational and clinical performance.
Effective use of the continuum of care assures each patient is treated at the right place for the right amount of time for the appropriate reimbursement.
Michael Murer Appointed to Health Information Security & Privacy Collaboration (HISPC) - Illinois II Legal Work Group
Joliet, IL -- Michael A. Murer, Executive Vice President and Legal Counsel for Murer Consultants, Inc., is currently part of the Legal Work Group for HISPC - Illinois II. This group will develop a model uniform patient Electronic Health Record (EHR)/Health Information Exchange (HIE) Consent Form for possible use by the state-level HIE, clinicians, healthcare facilities and other providers. The Legal Work Group has also been tasked with the development of a plan to disseminate the consent form and encourage its use. The optimal goal is to provide all patients in Illinois with the same information regarding privacy protections under the law and the necessary education to understand how their records will be safeguarded in an EHR/HIE environment.
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