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In recent months, stage 2 meaningful use has come under fire from many sides. Providers cry that it’s too difficult to meet the onerous requirements, while vendors lament the difficulties with making the requisite software available. Perhaps everyone’s focus is too narrow. This month’s E-News Exclusive suggests to stop wallowing in the task at hand and adopt a more liberal view of the project’s attributes. — Lee DeOrio, editor Looking Beyond the Incentives: The Real Benefits of Attesting to Stage 2 Meaningful Use By Christine Tremblay The time to begin preparing your practice for stage 2 meaningful use has arrived. Many physicians, however, are hesitant to begin the process with not-too-distant memories of stage 1 attestation which, for some, negatively impacted practice productivity. Although meaningful use may conjure images of long hours and mountains of paperwork, attesting to stage 2 has some distinct benefits beyond financial incentives that physicians shouldn’t overlook. There are several reasons why leveraging your EHR to optimize your practice makes sense outside of qualifying for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) dollars. If practices use their EHR correctly, they can reduce costs by avoiding the duplication of tests and other services due to human error and improve interactions with patients. Full Story » Telemedicine Brings Parkinson’s Care to Anyone, Anywhere A new study shows that a neurologist in an office thousands of miles away can deliver effective specialized care to people with Parkinson’s disease. For individuals with the condition—many of whom have never seen a specialist—these virtual house calls could allow them to live independently while effectively managing disease symptoms. “The idea that we can provide care to individuals with Parkinson’s disease regardless of where they live is both a simple and revolutionary concept,” says University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) neurologist Ray Dorsey, MD, MBA, senior author of the study, which was published in Neurology: Clinical Practice. “This study demonstrates that by employing essentially the same technology that grandparents use to talk to their grandchildren, we can expand access to the specialized care that we know will improve patients’ quality of life and health.” Read more » Adventure Awaits at HIMSS14 By Heather Hogstrom For those tired of the winter weather, the HIMSS conference, slated for February 23 to 27, will provide an escape to sunny Orlando, Florida. Since Orlando is home to Walt Disney World, you may be curious how Disney delivers health care to its employees and guests at both its theme parks on land and cruise ships at sea. Check out the session by Michael Hankins, MD, MPH, chief physician for Disney Parks and Resorts Health Services, on “Integrating Health Information Across the Enterprise: The Disney Experience” to learn about the people, processes, and technologies required to deliver integrated care across the enterprise. Or perhaps you’re interested in how hospitals maintain patient care in an emergency. In “All Patients Must Evacuate the Hospital! How One IT Department Ensured Continuity of Care,” Eli Tarlow, CPHIMS, CHCIO, and Stephen Natarajan of the New York City Health & Hospitals Corporation will share their experiences during Superstorm Sandy. Full Story »   E-News Exclusive Risky Business Terms of Engagement Beware of Poor Coding Habits A Better Rollout for Speech Recognition Medical Photo-Sharing App Promotes Social Learning Billing System Gets Pricey for Washington Hospital Ask the Expert HIMSS Conference Preview Industry Insight Tech & Tools Medical Photo-Sharing App Promotes Social Learning Figure 1 shares teachable moments by allowing health care professionals to post, “favorite,” and comment on medical photos, Stanford Medicine reports. Billing System Gets Pricey for Washington Hospital Whidbey General Hospital officials are expecting to spend more than $7.5 million on implementing an electronic records system that caused delays in billings and reduced cash on-hand to critical levels, according to the South Whidbey Record. Have a coding or transcription question? Get an expert answer by sending an e-mail to edit@gvpub.com. This month’s selection: Is it appropriate to code 86.22, Excisional debridement of wound/infection/burn, for the surgical removal of devitalized tissue by use of a rongeur? Mari Lyn Brewer, CCS RAC Coding Quality Analyst The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Response: It would not be appropriate to report code 86.22 for surgical removal of devitalized tissue by use of a ronguer. Read more » Risky Business Health care organizations that are ignoring or halfheartedly performing a HIPAA risk analysis are walking a dangerous line. Read more » Terms of Engagement To effectively engage physicians in clinical documentation improvement efforts, several key elements must be present. Read more » Beware of Poor Coding Habits Experts analyze the circumstances that may lead coders to lapse. Read more » A Better Rollout for Speech Recognition Tailor your strategy around these eight tips to increase your chances of a successful integration with an EHR. Read more »

The nation's top employers and recruiters of HIM talent advertise in For The Record magazine and post their job openings on AlliedHealthCareers.com. Check out the most recent opportunities that have been submitted by employers across the country! Inpatient Coder — University of MD Upper Chesapeake Health, Bel Air, MD Coding Manager — Carle Foundation, Champaign, Illinois Coding Supervisor — Carle Foundation, Champaign, Illinois Coder — Carle Foundation, Champaign, Illinois HIM Inpatient Coder — Mount Sinai Medical Center, Florida, United States HIM Auditor — Mount Sinai Medical Center, Florida, United States Coding Analyst II — Centra Health, Virginia, United States Inpatient & Outpatient Coders — Florida Hosp. Association, Florida, US Caremerge ReThink ReAdmissions App Caremerge Technology’s ReThink ReAdmission app connects long term care providers with hospitals and allows information to flow from the hospital to the senior living facility or at-home care team, including necessary discharge instructions and critical medical information for the care transition. The technology helps hospitals reduce readmissions by providing a platform whereby the hospital staff can upload and share information about the patient’s care after he or she is discharged. For the hospital, the discharge instructions are interfaced with the Caremerge technology, and the patient transition allows the hospital to transfer all relevant information to the specified senior living facility or home health agency. For these organizations, all necessary discharge and medical information, including an updated medication list, becomes available as soon as the patient transfer is accepted. Learn more » Mobile App for Childhood Cancer Survivors Through CancerLateFX, a free, personalized mobile app and website by Akron Children's Hospital, childhood cancer survivors can get educational information, tips, tools, and resources to keep them informed and healthy throughout their adult lives. CancerLateFX aims to help this population by increasing the understanding of late effects and prevention measures in young adults while building self-advocacy and self-care once a survivor has left the pediatric system. Instead of providing general health guidelines, the app generates content based on a person's symptoms and medical history and uses the survivor's cancer type and specific medications/treatments to introduce goals, prevention tips, and talking points that can be explored with the user's current health care provider. Learn more »   For The Record's online gift shop features a wide variety of items for HIM professionals for any occasion. Whether you are searching for products to give friends or colleagues, hand out to clients, or wear yourself, finding the right gifts is easy and affordable at For The Record's online gift shop. Choose from t-shirts, journals, clocks, buttons, mouse pads, and much more! Check out our secure online shop today or call toll-free 877-809-1659 for easy and fast ordering. For The Record offers many flexible advertising programs designed to maximize your results. From print advertising to e-newsletter sponsorships, website advertising to custom e-mail marketing, For The Record helps maximize your investment. E-mail our experienced account executives today for more information or call 800-278-4400! Coming up in our March issue is the new ICD-10 Spotlight. Secure a presence now for implementation teams. Fill out this form and e-mail or fax it back to reserve your space. AlliedHealthCareers.com is the premier online resource to recruit HIM professionals. Post your open positions, view résumés and showcase your facility's offerings all at AlliedHealthCareers.com! A Secure, Anonymous Résumé Bank Job Alerts Sent to Your E-mail