Administrative Memos

200604

FROM: Theodore O. Will, Chief Executive Officer
DATE: Sep 21, 2006
SUBJECT: Educational Materials for Medicare Hospital Payment Monitoring Program Special Project: "Coding for Quality: Documentation and Coding Tips for Gastrointestinal Disorders Electronic Coding Booklet and Recorded Training"
IPRO CONTACTS:

Renato Estrella, MS, RHIA, Director HIM, Medicare/Federal Healthcare Assessment, 516-209-5674

As you are aware, in July 2006, IPRO, as the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for New York, initiated a Hospital Payment Monitoring Program (HPMP) special project to address Medicare payment errors associated with DRGs 174 and 182 (HPMP Administrative Memorandum # 2006-03).

We are pleased to inform you that IPRO (with the assistance of the Coding Advisory Workgroup comprised of volunteer, Health Information Management representatives from across New York State) has developed an electronic coding booklet, "Coding for Quality: Documentation and Coding Tips for Gastrointestinal Disorders" which may be downloaded from http://www.ipro.org/gi. This coding advisory booklet was created to assist hospitals in their ongoing educational programs, internal auditing, and monitoring activities in regard to DRGs 174/175 and 182/183 as well as to reduce Medicare payment errors due to incorrect coding/DRG assignment.

We encourage you to share this information with your coding staff. In addition, a recorded power-point presentation that includes case examples of proper and improper coding for these DRGs is available on the project website (http://www.ipro.org/gi). Please note, this program has been approved for three (3) continuing education credits for use in fulfilling the continuing education requirements of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).

We hope you find these materials useful. Should you have any questions or require additional information about the coding booklet or the recorded power-point training, please feel free to contact Renato Estrella, at 516 209-5674.