FHAMC Health Information Management Services

The FHAMC, Health Information Management Services (HIMS) provides a variety of services to assist member hospitals to improve cash-flow, eliminating backlogs, optimize reimbursement while assuring HIM compliance These services include:

• On-site or Off-site Coding Services
• Abstracting Data
• Assembly of Records
• Deficiency Analysis
• Coding Compliance Audits
  • - Physician Practices
  • - Inpatient (DRG)
  • - Outpatient (APC)
• Chargemaster Update
• Physician Coding & Billing Workshops
• Coding Compliance Education
• Coding Area Management
• Interim HIM Department Management
• HIM Department Outsourcing

Health Information Management Services contracts with member hospitals on a fee-per-record basis, plus out-of-pocket travel expenses.

INTERIM MANAGEMENT
Our team of AHIMA Credential RHIAs and RHITs manage the day-to-day operations, initiate or update departmental compliance plans, provide education and training, conduct performance evaluations and write productivity standards.

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
HIM Staff provide educational programs designed to meet the individual needs of the FHA membership in the area of HIM department compliance, HIPAA, and Coding Compliance.

CODING SERVICES
Identifying the appropriate ICD-9-CM and/or HCPCS code in accordance with official coding guidelines requires highly trained and experienced coding specialists. Locating and retaining experienced and qualified coding specialists is a major challenge for most hospitals.

The timely completion of this function allows hospitals to timely bill the insurance carrier for patient treatment.

Timely billing assures cash-flow to the hospital.

FHAMC employs more than 30 Florida-based, AHIMA credentialed Coding Specialists, each with more than 3 years' acute care coding experience. FHA provides educational programs and newsletters to our coding staff. In addition, our Coding Specialists are audited regularly to assure coding quality.

CODING COMPLIANCE AUDITS
Coding Compliance programs are especially critical in reimbursement and assuring compliance with billing regulations. HIM professionals are invaluable to the process of achieving effective compliance and reducing the risk of future fraudulent or abusive practices.

Our Coding Compliance Audits identify errors, pinpoint the reason why the error was made, and educate the staff to prevent future errors.

RECORD DEFICIENCY ANALYSIS
All physicians' orders, progress notes, and dictated reports in the medical record must be signed by the author and must be provided by the responsible clinician in a timely fashion. The purpose of record analysis is to identify deficient documentation or signatures and record these deficiencies on deficiency tags or in an on-line deficiency tracking system. Analyzers may also indicate where signatures are needed using color-coded tabs.

CLERICAL SERVICES
Clerical assistance in other areas such as filing records or loose reports, locating and checking out records, updating master patient indices, microfilming, or performing other clerical functions may be provided based on an hourly fee.

CHARGEMASTER UPDATE
The Charge Description Master (CDM) is a computerized charge file which contains the UB-92 Revenue Code, HCPCS code (when applicable), charge or service description, and charge for laboratory, radiology, and special procedures performed by the facility for patients. Medicare, Medicaid, and many commercial insurance carriers require that all four components of a charge be entered on the itemized bill or UB-92, to receive payment for these services.

Job Opportunities
HIMS is always looking for additional qualified HIM professionals who are willing to travel within the state to provide these services to our members. HIMS offers an incentive pay for performance compensation plan, benefits and bonuses. Interested applicants may submit their resume in confidence to barbaraf@fha.org

For additional information and fee schedule, please contact Barbara Flynn, RHIA, CCS, Vice President, Health Information Management Services at barbaraf@fha.org, or phone (407) 841-6230 ext. 153.