A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

Question for Redpen - jm

Posted: Sep 30, 2010

Question for Redpen:

Is coding for a VA hospital different than a regular hospital. Is documentation improvement a priority more so there? Are doctors educated to document better there? What would you say is difference between working in a regular medical hospital vs a VA hospital?

Question for Redpen - Lynne

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm not Redpen but the following information might answer your questions. I work for a private hospital but like to keep up to date with how other facilities are doing things. This information was found on job websites and articles published in journals and the press.

Is coding at the VA different? No, the VA uses the same code sets and guidelines that everyone else uses.

Is documentation improvement a priority there? Yes, it is a priority. Their electronic record, which is often cited in university courses and the press as an example of a state-of-the-art product, provides a structure for good documentation. The VA is known for its focus on quality of care and that includes documentation.

Are doctors educated to document better there? All healthcare providers, not just doctors, in the VA are educated in good documentation. They have been doing this for years, but lately there have been a lot more jobs for documentation specialists based in health information management advertised on federal sites like USAJOBS. They also have EHR specialists who provide constant assistance and training in the correct use of the EHR. For the most part, their doctors seek out this assistance and are happy to have it available.

What would the difference be between working in a regular medical hospital and a VA hospital? One of the biggest differences is in the extent of the services that are coded. Many facilities offer a wide variety of services and specialties ranging from inpatient hospital, ambulatory services, outpatient clinics at a number of different locations, rehabilitation, hospice, nursing home, and other long-term care programs.

Thanks! - jm

[ In Reply To ..]
Lynn, Thank you for the great information!

Similar Messages:

May 08, 2010

I know the Andrews School has a website with the syllabus, but could you post HERE how we do learn through the Andrews school.....basically what would the first few weeks be like for a complete newbie to Coding who knows nothing about it? Thanks! ...

Jul 03, 2010

Just wondering if you have seen the new Journal of AMIMA and noticed how much of its content was dedicated to Computer Assisted Coding and changing roles of coders? I found it pretty interesting since I had just been talking the advent of such a short time ago! Our company's new owner is all about advancing technologies and say he won't go into ICD10 without CAC on board. ...

Oct 27, 2010

We are being QA'ed into oblivion at our facility. We have our RAC audits, our internal QA, and an outside agency that does QA audits on each coder. We are constantly in a QA cycle for someone, and it is getting to be so tiring. Each reviewer sees things a little differently so one thing may be correct for our internal QA but an error for our external. Can't win. Anyway, I am currently doing outpatient coding. Our facility uses EpicCare for clinical d ...

Jun 24, 2010

What is your opinion on the ICD-9 Procedure code for an infusion of Remicade for rheumatoid arthritis or Crohn's disease? Since this is considered a high-risk drug, the CPT codes are in the antineoplastic category. But matching up a ICD-9 is not clear. Since Remicade is a biologic response modifier you can go down that path. It is also a monoclonal antibody, so you can go down that path. So far I have come up with 99.28, 99.25, 00.18, and the usual 99.29. ...

May 18, 2010

I keep running into that term. What does it mean? Thanks in advance. ...