flynn043

Here is a link to my latest post on the HI Careers blog: http://hicareers.com/Blog/BlogArticle.aspx?Id=92 .

I've interviewed my share of individuals who come in with a padded resume who discredit themselves in about 5 minutes. It has nothing to do with a coding test, education, or certifications. They don't know what the DNFB is. And that is tell tale sign that they have never worked in a hospital coding department before. I can deal with inexperience and honesty. I have trouble accepting lying and deceit. And while I can't give you all experience, I can let you in on some important coding lingo and explain why it's so important. DNFB stands for "discharged, not final billed." It means - every account held for billing for some reason. Some hospitals refer to it as AR (accounts receivable) or simply "the unbilled." The reasons for unbilled accounts are generally categorized into 3 major buckets: Accounts within suspense (also known as the bill hold) is a facility-defined number of days in which an account will be held from billing so charges can be...

I recently looked over my past blog postings to see what material I haven't covered. Well, there's a lot. And I realize my last few posts have been very heavy on ICD-10 - mainly because that's what I'm working on most of the time. It got me thinking, though - have I strayed from the initial intent of this blog? Who is my audience - current coders or future coders? I have a friend and avid blogger (who's blog I am sorely behind in reading!) whom I consulted before I started the Coder Coach blog and I asked her, "What do I blog about?" She said, "Whatever you want!" Perfect! Because if I can't write about something I truly want to write about, what's the point of having a blog?! And today it really hit home - my audience has expanded. I started the Coder Coach group and blog about 2 years ago because I identified an alarming trend. Schools are turning out coding professionals by the dozens and many of them are becoming certified. ...

Sunday I decided to give up ice cream. Not forever, just for a few weeks or so while I try to kick what has become a rather troublesome sugar addiction. It turns out Sunday was not a good day to give up ice cream because that was National Ice Cream Day. How that very important holiday was omitted from my Outlook calendar when I imported all the US holidays, I'll never know, so I will have to be more watchful next year. I am proud, albeit unsatisfied, to tell you I stuck to my guns and didn't celebrate National Ice Cream Day this year. There's always 2012! You might be laughing right now, but ice cream is a very serious matter to me. When asked what my favorite ice cream is, I will inevitably ask you "from where?" and then launch into a tirade about how the manufacturer is key in determining what flavor to eat and continue with a discussion about proper chocolate-to-ice-cream ratio that would make Sally Allbright from When Harry Met Sally proud. I consider ...

When I started the HIM program at the local community college in... ahem, a few years ago (sly smile), I split my time working as a file clerk in a doctor's office and a catch-all clerk in a physician's billing office. The doctor's office was a family practice managed by the owner of the billing office, which was located just next door. I remember my coworkers asking me why I was going to school to learn about medical records because I was already a file clerk. I also remember hearing one of the billers grumble about an insurance company denying claims for a male patient with pelvic pain and "can't men have pelvic pain?!" Well, it didn't take me long to realize that the HIM field was more than filing - especially these days as hospitals and physicians move to electronic health records. And it didn't take me long to learn that, at least in the eyes of ICD-9-CM, men can't have pelvic pain - at least not the kind classified to code 625.9, Unspecif...