A New Year With NAHRI
by Jaclyn Fitzgerald, CHRI
2020 brought a number of changes to our lives and to the way NAHRI has provided you with education and networking. Because you’ve undoubtedly had a lot on your mind, let’s take a look back at the new offerings we launched last year and start thinking about what the current climate means for us in 2021.
NAHRI podcast
In April, we launched The Revenue Integrity Show: A NAHRI Podcast to deliver you timely industry updates from your peers in a format that you can take anywhere. While the podcast airs live every other Thursday at 3 p.m. Eastern, it is also available on streaming platforms like iTunes® and Google Play™ so you can catch up on the latest changes while going about your daily routine.
Our inaugural episode covered topics specific to the COVID-19 pandemic, including billing for hospital outpatient telehealth, hospital-based teletherapies (e.g., physical therapy, occupational therapy), and telehealth for diabetes self-management, as well as potential long-term implications of COVID-19 on telehealth. We covered additional COVID-19 billing, coding, and clinical trials guidance on future episodes, and we took the time to cover evergreen topics such as denials and appeals as well as annual updates to the outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS), the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), and evaluation and management (E/M) coding.
If you haven’t tuned in yet, be sure to head over to our website to directly stream episodes, locate additional streaming options, or register for free to tune in live as episodes air. Please reach out to me to suggest future topics or volunteer as a guest.
Leadership Council
Launched in September 2020, the NAHRI Leadership Council is a free networking and research group for revenue integrity and revenue cycle leaders who are on the cutting edge of industry thought leadership and strategy. Through focused research reports, customized analysis, and peer-to-peer networking, the Council acts as a sounding board for revenue integrity leaders who seek to stay up to date with current trends in hospital reimbursement while blazing new paths for an ever-evolving industry.
NAHRI has heard time and again that revenue integrity leaders often find themselves “going it alone.” Some landed in revenue integrity positions after working in chargemaster or revenue cycle roles but struggled with the full scope of what the emerging profession entailed. Others already had a wealth of experience and knowledge from leading large revenue integrity departments but lacked a peer group to benchmark their efforts against. The one thing all these leaders had in common, whether they were flying solo and learning the ropes or managing dedicated departments, was a desire to connect with others like themselves.
The NAHRI Leadership Council offers a deep dive into the daily challenges of revenue integrity leadership by bringing select members of the community together to educate one another and share actionable strategies aimed at improving workflow and securing buy-in from decision-makers.
NAHRI Leadership Council members are selected through an application process that analyzes background, experience, and applicants’ commitment to thoughtfully respond to industry surveys on topics that impact their daily professional lives.
Our application for 2021‒2022 Council membership will open this summer. Our first research report will be released in April. Be sure to visit our NAHRI Leadership Council website for updates on Council initiatives.
Leadership roundtable
NAHRI hosted the first Revenue Integrity Leadership Virtual Roundtable in October, bringing together a group of approximately 35 revenue integrity leaders from across the country to discuss topics that impact them the most. The Revenue Integrity Leadership Virtual Roundtable is an invitation-only event with limited capacity. We intentionally keep the full group small and break out into focused groups throughout the day to maximize networking and idea sharing in a format where everyone’s voice can be heard and challenges can be tackled in real time.
The agenda for each roundtable discussion was decided upon by the attendees and moderated by the NAHRI team. Industry veterans shared their thoughts on navigating price transparency changes, optimizing telemedicine for the future, and operational lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Going forward, all live or virtual instances of this Roundtable will be linked to the NAHRI Leadership Council. Select members of the Council will be invited to the annual Roundtable. Requiring that Roundtable participants be Council members ensures that we can keep the thought sharing and innovation going year-round.
Virtual education
In October, NAHRI hosted a three-day virtual educational and networking event, Revenue Integrity and Reimbursement Strategies: A NAHRI Virtual Event, to offer helpful tips for revenue integrity professionals looking to expand their knowledge base and professional circle.
Day one kicked off with a special edition of The Revenue Integrity Show: A NAHRI Podcast featuring a panel of NAHRI Advisory Board members who shared their thoughts on the operational impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the day went on, participants were treated to a two-part breakdown of the annual OPPS, inpatient prospective payment system, and MPFS rules, as well as a session on appealability and a virtual gala where members of the NAHRI Conference Committee offered guidance on virtual hiring and engagement.
On day two, attendees learned about price transparency, chargemaster best practices, key performance indicators, and changes to inpatient-only procedure guidelines.
Our final day together included an analysis of the requirements to make standard charges public, a look at charge capture hot spots, tips on structuring commercial payer integrity audits, and guidance on the role of revenue integrity in revenue cycle analytics.
NAHRI looks forward to planning additional events and networking in 2021. Please reach out to us with any feedback about your educational needs.
Sincerely,
Jaclyn Fitzgerald, CHRI
Director, NAHRI