Healthcare Business Management Association - HBMA
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July - August 2010 •
Volume 15, Issue 4
The Voice of HBMA
Letter from the President
Scott Everson, CHBME, HBMA President
As we reach mid-year during what can only be described as truly dynamic times for our industry, I can't help but pause and reflect on how grateful I am for my involvement in HBMA. The achievements of our association over the past several years are impressive. Click for more

HBMA Day at the CMS
Industry Representatives Weigh In On CMS Initiatives
HBMA Government Relations Committee
June was an important month for HBMA and our Government Relations Committee. This marked the annual meeting where CMS and HBMA came together to discuss current issues and challenges with the Medicare program. This year, the members of the Government Relations Committee traveled to Baltimore on June 9th and met for dinner to prepare for meetings with CMS. Click for more

EHR Committee
From Workgroup to Task Force to Committee, HBMA Supports Members with EMR Resources
By Patrick Lukacs
In 2007, a workgroup, comprised of Sherri Dumford, Kurt Cvikota, Bill Carns and myself, sought to deliver a white paper which would serve as a SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of EMR's relevance to the many HBMA members whose services support office based practices. This was a time when the EMR sales pitch was centered on "billing company not required." Click for more

Hot Topics!
Preview of Fall 2010 Conference Sessions
Billing Editors
With HBMA gaining greater credibility among healthcare regulators, this year's Fall Conference will be more substantive than ever. Sessions will be led by some of the industry's specialists who are very much "in the know" when it comes to our rapidly changing industry. In addition to benefitting from the wisdom of industry experts, attendees will have the opportunity to engage in direct dialogue with those who are closely connected on Capitol Hill. Check out our preview of some of the topics that will be on the agenda. Click for more

Adapting to the Future
Integrated Community of EHRs and Recordable Transcript-based Technologies Are Key
By Mark Anderson
Let's move past today and imagine that it is January 2012. It is not beyond reason that a visit to a doctor's office will be as streamlined as connecting through a portal on the Internet to schedule an appointment. Click for more

Beware... the Ice Age is Coming
Electronic Medical Records MUST Interface to Be Useful
By Mark Anderson
President Obama's healthcare technology stimulus plan, aka HITECH, calls for sharing of codified data between multiple practicing physicians. To help resolve this issue, AC Group has coined a new term — Integrated Community EHRs (ICE). ICE products are designed for community systems, including hospitals, MSOs, and IPAs where there is a desire to create one common community integrated patient record no matter where the patient is treated. Click for more

Prove It To Me
Fact or Opinion — Clients Want to Know
By Greg Wehrman
"PROVE IT TO ME!" How many times have we all heard that from a client? If you have been billing long enough, you have surely been asked many times by various clients (or even the same client over and over) about some policy you have that they do not like or understand. Or perhaps they may inquire about some new way of billing they heard of that "other doctors are doing." In any case, with so many continual changes occurring in the industry, your clients will invariably question your answer. Click for more

Don't Give It Away
Coding Corner
By Melody W. Mulaik, MSHS, PCS, FCS, RCC, CPC, CPC-H
In today's environment it is hard enough to collect money from the payers, much less the patients, for services your clients render. Physician practices should not make this task any harder by giving away free services to Medicare patients because they are non-covered services. Click for more

Safeguard Against Snooping
Violations Can Result in Hefty Fines or Worse
By Jim Trotter
A hospital employee searches through medical records to find information about the whereabouts of her estranged son. Two dozen employees, including doctors and nurses, are suspended for accessing George Clooney's medical records without authorization. And on April 30, 2010, a former researcher at UCLA is sentenced to four months in prison for accessing records of primarily well-recognized celebrities, the first person to be sentenced to prison for snooping through patients' medical records under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA"). Click for more

Are You an Entrepreneur or an Intrapreneur?
From the Road
By Dave Jakielo, CHBME
Before we delve into this month's article, a few definitions are in order relating to your leadership style. Entrepreneurs work on their businesses while Intrapreneurs work in their businesses. In the past, you could run a successful company regardless of your style, but this won't work in the future. Click for more

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