Category / The Coders

by Julianne Haydel

Nina Pham


 

The CDC, among others, have suggested that perhaps more training is needed to ensure that direct health care workers are properly using protective equipment.   According to that line of thought, poor Nina Pham simply did not know what she was doing when she picked up a touch of Ebola from her patient.  If only she had more education on how to put on gloves and a gown, this whole disaster could have been avoided.

I think not.

I posted my dismay regarding re-educating nurses on FaceBook and was amazed at how smart my friends are.

One non-nurse, Michelle said that education was a way to protect the facility.  In other words, when a policy is violated, the hospital is able to assure any surveyor or lawyer that they did, indeed, provide the education and training and have therefore met their responsibility.  Sadly, a successful healthcare facility (and by successful, I mean isn’t closed down) must cover all bases to minimize damages.  I would probably waste time and resources re-teaching PPE, too if I had to make the decisions.

She also pointed out that maybe protocols are not strictly enforced when the risks are lower which could lead to bad habits.  I agree.  Ever notice how MRSA is already a problem when we start monitoring hand hygiene?  (I love that.  Hand hygiene – soon there will be an aisle in the supermarket for hand hygiene products instead of soap, antibacterial gel and hand lotion.)

Lisa Selman Holman pointed out how very miserable PPE is to wear.  She is right.  It is hot and sticky, nothing fits right and it is ugly in the most unforgiving way.  I have yet to figure out how looking like Big Bird assists in the infection control process. Healthcare workers, especially those with a fashion sense, can’t wait to take it off.

If ever there was a time to spend money, this would be it.  Athletic clothing manufacturers have done amazing things with sports gear.  It seems like a clothing manufacturer who exists because they make comfortable, functional clothes that can wick away perspiration, kill enough germs to smell good and keep a body warm in water might be able to help design something comfortable, disease proof, easily taken on and off  with the assistance of an infection control specialist.

Sara Kawaguchi came up with the idea of having two people involved – one present simply to observe.  I love this idea and it is cheap to do when considering the stakes.  Having never met Miss Pham, I can only assume that she didn’t tear a glove, look at it and say, ‘Oh darn,’ and carry on with restarting an infiltrated IV line.   If she breached protocol, it was likely unnoticed by her.

My cousin, Steve, is a physician and his response was simple.

1) we are human
2) we make mistakes
3 there is no room for a mistake here, in flight or in surgery

There’s a lot of truth in that but we can minimize mistakes.  Even the world famous Quality Assurance plan designed by Toyota, Six Sigma refers to only six errors in a million.  When it comes to Ebola, nobody wants to be one of the six.

The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande is written by a surgeon who almost killed a patient because he forgot to do something very simple and standard prior to surgery – type and match blood.  After this near catastrophe that left his confidence shaken, he set about researching how to prevent errors.  It turned out that aviation history was marred by the crash of the first B17 in which several people died.  It almost took Boeing aircraft out of the game completely.  The solution included a checklist which enabled the (highly skilled and trained pilots) to fly 12 planes a total of 1.8M miles without incident.  It is now used universally.

Checklists are not designed to educate anyone.  If you have ever turned in visit notes only to find out that you forgot to write a narrative because you were interrupted, you are prone to human error.  If you have ever been called about a bill you know you paid only to find the stamped envelope in your purse, you could have used a checklist.  They are designed to let you pick up where you left off in the event something slips your mind, you are preoccupied or there is chaos all around you.  They ground and center the user.

There are undoubtedly numerous approaches to improving the safety of healthcare workers but re-educating the staff in a critical care unit on how to put on and take off PPE is an intervention for the hospital – not the nurses.  Don’t tell me that the staff in an intensive care unit requires more schoolin’ to put on gowns, masks and gloves.  Make them more comfortable so they aren’t urgently ripped off like they were on fire the minute you clear the room.  Have someone else watch.  Use a check list.  Doing more of what was done in the past because it didn’t work doesn’t quite make sense to me.

What the healthcare staff needs the most is a cure for Ebola.  When it comes to caring for a patient with Ebola, especially at the end of life, perhaps the most important changes will come about from the staff who were actually there doing the job.  If the blame game stops and the focus is directed to increased protection of healthcare workers, why not consult that handful of clinicians who are the only ones in the United States to have cared for Ebola patients in US hospitals?

I know that you join The Coders in wishing Godspeed to Nina Pham’s recovery.  She was able to be there for a patient isolated from his family and friends when he needed them the most.  People like Nina Pham do not put their own lives on the line for a paycheck.  She has a calling and I pray she will be back at work sooner than later.

Also,  let’s not forget that Nina Pham is not alone.  A few dozen other healthcare workers who took the same risk as Nina Pham and so far, have been free of symptoms.  These include the staff in Dallas as well as Nebraska and GA where two other Ebola patients have been treated.  They are no less heroic because they have not contracted Ebola; they just haven’t made the news and I hope they don’t any time soon.

by Julianne Haydel

Ebola? Here in the States?


 

It looks like we have company in the form of another virus.  Ebola has caused quite a stir in the US and the media is torn between reporting it as a benign little incident so insignificant as to not warrant our attention and predicting Armageddon.  With all new viral pathogens, it is difficult to predict.  A virus will do what it can to survive and most times that means reducing the severity of the illness so as not to kill its host and prolonging the incubation period.  Who knows what Ebola will do.

If 40,000 fatalities from Ebola were predicted this year, there would be mass panic.  If there was a preventative measure, who wouldn’t do what they could to get it  no matter what the cost? 

We are looking at close to 40,000 deaths from flu and pneumonia this year.  There are legitimate questions about these statistics such as why are flu and pneumonia lumped together as the 8th leading cause of death?  They are not the same disease.  To dispel the statistical arguments, lets pretend that only 20,000 deaths will result from the flu this year.  Tragically, most cases of the flu are preventable at no cost to most people.

Setting death aside for a minute (or hopefully many years), consider the experience of having the flu.  The first day or so, patients are afraid they are going to die.  As it reaches its peak, they are afraid they will not die.

We don’t want our patients to feel like that.   Many home health patients will end up in the hospital if they get the flu.  Hospice patients may be terminal but most have plans to die from something less miserable.  It is okay to get between the flu and your hospice patient. 

So, while we are panicking about Ebola, let’s keep in mind that there are thousands of lives we can save with a simple flu shot.  The CDC has a ton of free resources that you can use in your agency, patient homes, and community to promote vaccination.  Most have room for your company logo and the CDC is fine with you adding it.  Think about it.  When was the last time that the government provided you with professionally designed materials to be used in promoting your agency or hospice? 

When we figure out what we can do about Ebola, we’ll post it here.  Until then, get out there and stick as many old people with needles as you can.  Here are some codes you can include on your care plan if you know upon admission that you will be giving a flu vaccine.

  • V03.82 Vaccine for Streptococcus Pneumonia (PPV)
  • V04.81 Vaccine for Influenza Virus
  • V06.6 Streptococcus pneumoniae [pneumococcus] and influenza

Is anyone qualified to write or help us write a short blog on how to bill for the flu and pneumonia vaccines?  Let me know below or by emailing TheCoders@hhcoding.com.

by Julianne Haydel

This Just (snuck) In!


Hospice Providers, take note

To be quite honest, I have never seen a ‘no code’ list in hospice.  If anything, I would expect to see a ‘full code’ list as any code status besides DNR would be the exception.

And yet, there is a new list of codes that hospices may not use when determining the primary reason for hospice care.   A list of codes at the end of this document will be automatically returned to providers when used as a principle code for hospice for claims billed after October 1.

This information comes from CMS change request 8877 which also contains very important information about the Notice of Election.

Home Health Providers:

An updated Local Coverage Determination has been published by Palmetto GBA for Alzheimer’s Dementia.  Among the insightful gems included in this guidance is the following passage begging the question of, ‘does someone have too much time on their hands?’

Behavioral disturbances often complicate the medical management of beneficiaries with Alzheimer’s disease. At baseline many individuals with Alzheimer’s disease manifest activity limitations in such domains as communication and self-care. The occurrence of behavioral disturbances, if not addressed in a comprehensive and systematic manner, may further compromise the activity limitations present at baseline – resulting in sub-optimal clinical outcomes.

Wow.  I’m glad we cleared that up.  Seriously, look how often the word, ‘baseline’ is used.  If you really want to get paid, consider using the FAST scale to stage Alzheimer’s on admission and recert.  There are also numerous documentation requirements.  Please review and document accordingly.

If you recall, numerous claims once denied for Face-to-Face documentation are now being denied for lack of both long and short term goals.  The reference to short and long term goals is listed as the Physical Therapy LCD.  I am quite certain that the Alzheimer’s documentation LCD will be used in the same way.

Both of these regulations will take place on October 1.  Be ready.

 

The Hospice No Code List

290.0 Senile Dementia Uncomplicated
290.10 Presenile Dementia Uncomplicated
290.11 Presenile Dementia With Delirium
290.12 Presenile Dementia With Delusional Features
290.12 Presenile Dementia With Delusional Features
290.13 Presenile Dementia With Depressive Features
290.20 Senile Dementia With Delusional Features
290.20 Senile Dementia With Delusional Features
290.21 Senile Dementia With Depressive Features
290.3 Senile Dementia With Delirium
290.3 Senile Dementia With Delirium
290.40 Vascular Dementia Uncomplicated
290.41 Vascular Dementia With Delirium
290.42 Vascular Dementia With Delusions
290.43 Vascular Dementia With Depressed Mood
290.8 Other Specified Senile Psychotic Conditions
290.9 Unspecified Senile Psychotic Condition
293.0 Delirium Due To Conditions Classified Elsewhere
293.1 Subacute Delirium
293.81 Psychotic Disorder With Delusions In
293.82 Psychotic Disorder With Hallucinations In Conditions Classified Elsewhere
293.83 Mood Disorder In Conditions Classified Elsewhere
293.83 Mood Disorder In Conditions Classified Elsewhere
293.83 Mood Disorder In Conditions Classified Elsewhere
293.83 Mood Disorder In Conditions Classified Elsewhere
293.83 Mood Disorder In Conditions Classified Elsewhere
293.83 Mood Disorder In Conditions Classified Elsewhere
293.89 Other Specified Transient Organic Mental Disorders Due To Conditions Classified Elsewhere
294.20 Dementia, Unspecified, Without Behavioral Disturbance
294.21 Dementia, Unspecified, With Behavioral Disturbance
294.8 Other Persistent Mental Disorders Due To Conditions Classified Elsewhere
294.8 Other Persistent Mental Disorders Due To Conditions Classified Elsewhere
310.0 Frontal Lobe Syndrome
310.1 Personality Change Due To Conditions Classified Elsewhere
310.2 Postconcussion Syndrome
310.89 Other Specified Nonpsychotic Mental Disorders Following Organic Brain Damage
310.9 Unspecified Nonpsychotic Mental Disorder Following Organic Brain Damage
by Julianne Haydel

Computer Charting


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Computers are tools.  They give your staff the ability to surf the net, check FaceBook or even work.  Sometimes, surfing the net would be preferable to the computer documentation I have had to suffer through lately.

This is not a new pet peeve but it is regularly exacerbated.  One idea is to turn off the software’s ability to carry over visit note content from one day to the next.  Agencies are afraid their nurses would quit if they did that.

Just two weeks ago, I wrote a plan of correction for an agency that addressed essentially duplicate notes.  It seems the surveyors are also noticing very little original content in visit notes.  The plan my client decided on was to disable the ability to cut and paste for one week for an initial offense for a nurse, a month for the second and permanently for the third.  This only works if you system allows you to individualize each user’s abilities.

Everyone uses templates and revises old documents and contracts to make new ones.  Everyone’s phone rings and has distractions.  The difference with clinical documentation is that typo’s are the stuff of Medicare Fraud and Abuse.

Do you know Daniel R. Levinson?   He holds the position of Inspector General of the United States.  When someone refers to the OIG, they are referring to his office.  Unless you are paid handsomely to defend someone against charges brought by the OIG or you play tennis with him, you never want to hear your name in the same sentence as Daniel Levinson’s.  So, having said all that about the Inspector General, let’s hear what he has to say about your computer documentation.

Experts in health information technology caution that EHR technology can make it easier to commit fraud. Certain EHR documentation features, if poorly designed or used inappropriately, can result in poor data quality or fraud.

This next one kind of gets under my skin a little but he is absolutely correct.  I just wish he would remember that the most important reason to document is to improve patient care by committing to writing pertinent facts about the patient and their treatment.

When doctors, nurses, or other clinicians copy-paste information but fail
to update it or ensure accuracy, inaccurate information may enter the
patient’s medical record and inappropriate charges may be billed to
patients and third-party health care payers.

The Inspector General highly recommends the use of audit tools, as well.  I’m not sure that is an effective solution to all but the most egregious offenses.  The nurses I know sign their name to duplicative documentation.  I know nurses who share passwords all the time.

The only time that I have ever detected the appearance of actual fraud is when nurses documented more visits than are possible on a single day with over lapping times.    I know from frequent experience that it is easy misdate a handwritten signature or document.  Computers are far more reliable than most humans in getting the date straight.

The best audit tool begins at the hiring process.  People with integrity do not commit fraud.  We have all been desperate for someone to fill an urgent need in the schedule and plugged in the wrong person who had not been vetted properly.   That’s a painful mistake because ultimately, the agency is responsible for what happens inside its organization.

The second best audit tools are the back office people and coders who read scores of documentation.  They will notice duplication and unlikely events sooner than a QA nurse who is reviewing a smaller percentage of clinical records.  Coders and billers spend hours of time at computers each day.  They make scores of errors, correct them and move on to the next plan of care.  When they see an obvious typo, they don’t see it as Medicare fraud because, get this –nobody is actually trying to commit fraud.

The only people who view these typos and occasional duplicated notes as fraud are the ones who can deny you payment or arrest you.  If I were you, I might take a second look at your computer documentation practices.

Just saying…. 

by Julianne Haydel

Documentation Myth


 

When you code, what do you review?

One myth that is prevalent in home health is that the nurse must chart on the primary diagnosis.  This is a good rule of thumb but it is not a law or anything.  You will not go to jail if you venture off into another relevant area of patient care.

These are some of the errors we see because the focus of the nurses and coders is narrowed to the ‘primary diagnosis.

  1. The patient experiences an exacerbation or a new diagnosis and the clinician documents something like, ‘Pt reports falling this morning when trying to get out of bed.  Taught that concentrated sweets can raise blood sugar.”
  2. The patient is on multiple medications for hypertension but miraculously the patient does not have a diagnosis of hypertension anywhere.
  3. A poorly chosen primary diagnosis makes it to the initial plan of care and the obedient nurse documents on it throughout the episode.   When it comes time to code the second episode, the coder reads through the notes and determines that most care went to the bad diagnosis and re-codes with the same error.
  4. We continue to see low vision coded without a supporting diagnosis that cannot be corrected with lenses.
  5. Hospital paperwork mentions diseases and conditions that are nowhere to be found in the home health care chart.

So, back to the original question.  What are you reviewing?  If you are looking a the diagnoses that the nurse wrote on her assessment and simply applying the coding conventions, you need to find out where she is getting her information.  If she is repeating the same diagnoses as before, they may be wrong.  If there are no changes, the patient appears to be static to the Medicare computers that run edits on your claims placing you at high risk for scrutiny.

Coding that is compliant with all regulations doesn’t happen in one place.  The clinician must document accurately regardless of the coding sequence was at the beginning of the episode.  If necessary, complete a Significant Change in Condition Assessment.  Alternatively, if you believe that the coding was performed incorrectly, contact the person who does your coding and make clear why you think it is wrong.

Medicare expects you to code accurately but they do not expect you to be clairvoyant.  If your patient with diabetes as a secondary diagnosis has a sustained blood elevated blood sugar, it should not be ignored in the notes.

When the visit note content is a true and accurate reflection of the patient and you have all the supplemental information such as lab, hospital documents, etc., then true and correct codes may be assigned.  Coders need to learn to look for clues that the documentation isn’t as it should be. 

Initially, this may delay dropping a RAP for a day or so but it is better than leaving hundreds of dollars on the table or putting yourself at risk for denials. Good coding will eventually be the starting point of a more efficient process which will result in your agency fine tuning multiple processes improving patient care, communication and cash.  What’s wrong with that?

If you need help coding or billing, don’t hesitate to give us a call.  We can help you get your processes streamlined and improve your cash.  See the coupon below for a special offer for the first five readers who respond. 

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