Hospitals Slow in Integration Process
The financial health of community hospitals were surveyed recently and specifically their operating margins, Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement, days of cash on hand and their ICD-10 implementation progress were reviewed.
Becker’s Hospital Review brought this to our attention in their article, “Two Sides of the Coin: The Good and the Bad of Community Hospital Finances.” Sixty hospitals with a bed capacity of less than 300 answered their survey questions.
Overall, community hospitals seem to be doing surprisingly well considering the state of health care costs, reimbursements and regulation. Ninety-five percent have started the ICD-10 journey, but only 24 percent are undergoing remediation, and not one surveyed community hospital has completed the conversion.
The new ICD-10 classification system has five times more codes. Medical coding requires specialized expertise and systems tailored to the regulatory requirements in which health care providers, hospitals, and doctors deliver their services. Training staff is a key component of the transition.
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Melody K. Smith
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