© 2002-2014 Nuance Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 1

79th Annual Conference

Capitalizing on Our Strengths

June 1 to June 4, 2014

Embracing CAC Beyond Reimbursement

Bonnie S. Cassidy, MPA, RHIA, FAHIMA, FHIMSS & AHIMA Approved ICD-10-CM/PCS Trainer and Ambassador

June 2, 2014

Agenda

• What is Computer-Assisted Coding (CAC)?• Why should I consider CAC?• Embracing CAC Beyond Reimbursement:

– Quality Results Reporting• Information Governance:

– Assessing your Readiness for CAC• Q&A

What is CAC?

Computer-assisted coding is a solution based on technology which offers gains in efficiency and coding workflows and improves quality of coded and clinical data.

What is CAC?

CAC has been defined by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) as “…the use of computer software that automatically generates a set of medical codes for review, validation, and use based upon clinical documentation provided by healthcare practitioners.”

How Does CAC Work?CAC reads electronic documentation using Clinical Language Understanding (CLU) and assigns ICD-9-CM, CPT, SNOMED, ICD-10 or other codes

– Uses structured electronic narrative text to determine context and assign codes

– Allows doctors to use their natural language which is analyzed and processed real-time in context to return applicable codes

Could be a mitigation strategy for:•Transition to ICD-10•Incomplete documentation•Incomplete or incorrect coding•Sequencing errors leading to financial loss•Not understanding complexity of data (severity and Mortality risks)•Data integrity is at risk•Coding compliance

Why Should I Consider CAC?Why Should I Consider CAC?

CAC Benefits

• Reduce AR days and DNFB• Reduce HIM labor and outsourcing

costs

CAC – Benefits Realization

• CAC produces an audit trail tracing clinical documentation

• Clinical documentation is verified– Coding can be validated – Coding is consistent– Potential for improved Case Mix

(CC/MCC capture)• Enhances coding compliance

Embracing CAC Beyond Reimbursement

• Computer Assisted Coding (CAC) with its Clinical Language Understanding capabilities will be integrated into the coding workflow of every organization.

• The challenge for HIM professionals is to leverage the CLU or NLP technology by demonstrating its value and championing its use for additional purposes.

Embracing Technology

Embracing CAC Beyond Reimbursement

• One area to consider is chart abstraction. The demand for organizations to abstract clinical data for registries and quality measure reporting continues to expand. Often this involves costly manual abstraction of data with limited budgets.

• A system which provides a core data source to provide the capability of collection of required data and use for many other purposes is in your future.

Embracing Technology

Our World Today of “Identifying” Quality

• From – Joint Commission Surveys every 3 years

• To– Public Reporting and Recognition Programs– Pay for Performance

• VALUE BASED PURCHASING• All payers are in the game• Measures being used are becoming more

aligned

Quality Measures/ReportingTo Supportappropriate reimbursement

CAC solution helps Reducetime-consuming abstracting tasks

Must be able to Provideappropriate reimbursementreal-time quality measure results

Ensureaccurate and complete transmission to regulatory agencies

Healthcare Reform • New models of transparency, accountability and value-

based purchasing• Focus on

– Processes• Clinical – Core Measures

– Outcomes• 30 day all cause Hospital Readmissions and

Mortality • Patient Safety Indicator Composite • Patient Experience

• Hospitals will be competing against each other • There will be winners and losers

Embracing CAC Beyond Reimbursement

• It will come as no surprise to HIM professionals that the fiscal health of hospitals and the scope and quality of patient care and physician practice patterns are directly intertwined.

• As organizations struggle to remain compliant with an ever increasing and often confusing landscape of regulatory and reporting requirements they are also competing for a dwindling share of reimbursement revenue.

Collect Once, Use Many

Embracing CAC Beyond Reimbursement

• Conversely as requirements increase, the resources often remain static.

• Leveraging available tools and processes to capture and analyze data proactively and thus predict their clinical and financial outcomes will position organizations to remain both solvent and competitive. Adopting a “collect once; use many” approach to record processing and reviews will yield broad benefits.

Collect Once, Use Many

Embracing CAC Beyond Reimbursement

• One of the promises of EHRs is the automation of abstraction and aggregation of results for quality measurement and reporting, but much work remains.

• It is acknowledged that “retooling” of existing measures to be “machine readable and processable” with results comparable to human abstraction is challenging.

Leverage your EHRs Investment

Embracing CAC Beyond Reimbursement

• One automation obstacle is identification and abstraction of data from “free text” or “narrative text” which is referred to as “unstructured data.”

• There is growing recognition that Clinical Language Understanding/CLU/NLP is a useful technology to address unstructured data.

Leverage your EHRs Investment

Embracing CAC Beyond Reimbursement

• The HIM professional may choose a prospective approach to Quality Measurement by promoting the value of concurrent coding using CAC to identify patients whose data will be aggregated into measure results.

• Concurrent identification of patients can be used to trigger clinical documentation improvement activities, clinical decision support tools and quality measure processes while the patient is in-house thereby improving patient outcomes and measure results.

Using CAC concurrently

Embracing CAC Beyond Reimbursement

• HIM leaders will advocate for CAC and the “collect once, use many” approach to break down silos within the organization, automate Quality Measurement and bring value to the organization.

Using CAC concurrently

Embracing CAC Beyond Reimbursement

• As the nation strives to meet the goals of the national quality strategy, HIM principles are foundational for supporting timely, accurate, and complete data collection, appropriate release of data, and the transformation of data into information. HIM professionals will lead information governance and ensure data integrity through the management of all types of data and across the continuum of stakeholder groups.

HIM Foundations Critical for CAC Use

Embracing CAC Beyond Reimbursement

• The HIM professional’s role is to combine emerging technologies with innovative processes to meet the aims of this strategy—improve the quality of healthcare, improve the health of the US population, and reduce the cost of quality healthcare.

HIM Foundations Critical for CAC Use

Embracing CAC Beyond Reimbursement

• HIM professionals have a responsibility to help foster the transformation of data collection in new and innovative ways.

• Computer-assisted coding is an example of innovation to improve productivity and consistency of encoded data.

• This technology provides the opportunity for HIM professionals to drive the adoption of tools that turn information into new and strategic assets.

HIM Foundations Critical for CAC Use

Embracing CAC Beyond Reimbursement

Current State of Information Governance

• Our Story as Health Information Professionals is one of Protecting and Managing Health Information

• Our Primary Ethical Obligation to Protect Patient Privacy and Confidential Information Incudes:– Oversight of disclosure of information.– Management of health information

systems and health records.– Quality of information.

Know Your Data• What are the causes of readmission?

– Diagnoses of Readmission– Readmission by Provider (Physician or Facility) Rates– Readmission rates at different time frames– Discharge Status & Point of Origin – Discharge Process

• Self Management – Medication– Diet– Physician/Provider Follow Up Appointment

• Referrals to Next Care Provider– Instructions/Order Sets– Assessed need for care – Transition to the next level of care planned

Mortality • Know the mortality rate• Identify high DRGs with mortality• Mortality Reviews

IHI- Review all ICU deaths Review all deaths Review low risk mortalities Look at surgical readmissions/ returns to OR DO not waste your time looking at cases

that were identified at admission as being terminal or expected to expire

Skills Needed For Advancing Improvement

• Data Analysis

• Process Analysis

• Facilitation

• Project Management

Top-Performing Hospitals Attributes• Priority of the executive team • Understanding what is being measured• Engage clinicians from the start of the planning process • Structure and approach of quality department• Manage data analysis and collection effectively • Communication of strategy – you have to have a plan• Regularly share performance data to all levels in

organization • Commit to sharing best practices • Celebrate the achievements

Lesson Learned

“Quality and safety improvement is as much about communication and

relationships as it is about protocols and techniques of process improvement”

(P. Levy 2012)

ASSESSING YOUR READINESS FOR CAC

Successful Health Information Governance

• Requires the Right People, Processes, and Technology

Embracing All of the National HIT Initiatives

Assess your current state1. Evaluate, Update and/or Create a Coding

Compliance Plan that identifies your core clinical documentation record set for coding compliance.

2. Understand the types of clinical documentation capture.

3. Readiness for ICD-9 Coding Compliance.4. Know the technology that will be affected by CAC

and/or other ICD-10 preparations within your organization.

5. Review your current workflow.

What Technology Will CAC Impact?

• Has your legal medical record been defined?– Where does it exist—paper or electronic?

• What other systems are in place?– Clinical– Financial– Dictation/transcription/speech recognition– Encoder– Scanners– Interfaces

• What IT resources are available?

CAC ReadinessDEFINING YOUR CORE CLINICAL DOCUMENATION RECORD SET

Available at nuance.com Available at ahima.org

Align all of the HIM priorities• HIM Assessment: Do you have a defined clinical

documentation record set for coding compliance?• Align ICD-10 efforts with Meaningful Use

preparation• Meet reporting deadlines of October 1, 2015• Plan to fulfill ICD-9 and ICD-10 requirements during

transition periods• Foster open communication with all stakeholder

groups• Utilize HIM and CDI professionals as process

leaders

In Summary

• Understand the Information Governance infrastructure needed for CAC

• Embrace CLU Technology• Set high expectations for utilizing your CLU/NLP

engine– Beyond reimbursement

CA-CDI CA-PD CAC

Presenter Today

Bonnie S. Cassidy, MPA, RHIA, FAHIMA, FHIMSS

•AHIMA-Approved ICD-10 CM/PCS Trainer and Ambassador•Senior Director of HIM Innovation at Nuance•Past President of AHIMA

•Contact Information: Bonnie.Cassidy@Nuance.com

Cassidy, Bonnie S; Gorman-Klug, Catherine; Taylor, Lisa Brooks. “Embracing CAC Beyond Reimbursement Initiatives.” Journal of AHIMA 83, no.11 (November 2012): 54-55.

Cassidy, Bonnie; “Defining the Core Documentation Record Set for Coding Compliance http://journal.ahima.org/2012/11/16/defining-the-core-documentation-set-for-coding-compliance

References/Resources