HIMemo

Mastering Injections and Infusions: Ensuring Reimbursement

On April 12, the Mississippi Hospital Association will host a webinar on ensuring reimbursement for injections and infusions. The speaker will be Duane Abbey. The webinar will cover coding and billing issues and CPT codes.

There is a site fee of $165 for this course. Advance registration is required to ensure delivery of instructional materials. To register, please send an email to Robin Powell, rpowell@mhanet.org, by March 29 2007. Be sure to include contact person, title, facility, email, phone number and provide the Telnet Course number (#2297).

Coding, Billing, and Compliance: Observation Services

MHA E-Learning is offering a TelNet course (audio via phone and PowerPoint presentation on your computer) covering Coding, Billing, and Compliance: Observation Services. The target audiences for this program are CFOs, CNOs, outpatient service staff, coding personnel, billing and claims transaction staff, chargemaster coordinators, financial analysts, compliance personnel and physicians.

Duane Abbey, PhD, CFP, of Abbey & Abbey Consultants, Inc., in Ames, Iowa, is the speaker. Abbey is a management consultant and president of Abbey & Abbey Consultants. For over 20 years, he has provided health care consulting services to hospitals, physicians and medical clinics. The focus of his consulting has been in the areas of compliance and payment and delivery systems. In addition to his consulting, Dr. Abbey is an invited presenter for hospital associations, medical societies and other groups. He also has published both articles and books on health care topics. Dr. Abbey earned his graduate degrees from the University of Notre Dame and Iowa State University.

Program topics will include:

• Overview of Observation Services
  - Outpatient services versus inpatient admissions
  - Observation as a ‘status” versus being a ‘bed'
  - Documenting observation services
  - Care paths for observation services
• CMS’ View of Observation Services
  - The ‘bed’ concept
  - Start and stop times
  - Direct admissions to observation status
  - Observation for more than 48 hours
  - Inpatient status to observation status
• Billing for Observation Services
  - Chargemaster setup
  - CMS versus other third-party payers
  - Coding and time-units
• Compliance for Observation Services Diagnostic conditions
  - Care paths
  - Observation log
  - Policy and procedure development
• Special Challenges for Observation Services
  - Driven by physicians
  - Quality of care

At the completion of this program, the participant will be able to:

1. Explain the definition and utilization of observation services.
2. Discuss the CMS approach to observation services and the relationship to inpatient admissions.
3. List CMS pronouncements about observation services in the Federal Register.
4. Discuss chargemaster entries and pricing for observation services.
5. Explain how observation services should be coded and billed for different third-party payers.
6. Identity strategies for hospitals meeting documentation and associated compliance issues.
7. Describe the use of care paths is providing observations services.

There is a site fee of $170 for this course. Advance registration is required by June 27 to ensure delivery of instructional materials. Please contact Diane Clift at (601) 368-3217 or dclift@mhanet.org or Margaret Cooper at (601) 368-3385 or mcooper@mhanet.org for registration information or additional questions.