Oh how I miss those days in the 1980’s during the first revolution in health reform. That’s when hospitals lost their power to set their own fees for service. Because of rising medical inflation and deep economic deterioration, the government was forced to seek a solution and DRG’s were it. Does anyone remember running your fingers through the DRG decision tree until 3M offered an automated solution? I think that was the beginning of the end of lazy days in medical records. DRG’s triggered a shift in the balance of political and economic power between providers and those who paid for care and here we are.

Help your organization improve compliance with their scores in the following ways:

• Understand what’s expected/what drives the data
• Pay attention to the dashboard/scorecards
• Understand how the electronic medical record (EMR) works and manage it
• Timely/accurate completion of Records
  •  Establish real relationships with physicians/nurses/clinical staff
  • Get to know your physicians and how they learn (old school, middle of the road, technically savvy) 
• Audit documentation
• Accurate Coding
• Customer satisfaction—every patient, every time he/she interacts with HIM. We in HIM are on the front line, too!