Healthcare professionals nationwide are feeling the strain of nearly two years of nonstop COVID concerns.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. John Zelem, a former general surgeon, is the founder and CEO of Streamline Solutions Consulting, Inc., and a regular panelist on the ICD10monitor Internet broadcast Talk Ten Tuesdays. His essay is from his book, “The Process of becoming Successful, Develop the Passion to Win.”
We have been hearing so much in the media lately about the daily challenges physicians and nurses and other healthcare workers are experiencing. This is leading to something called “burnout,” and many leaving the healthcare professions entirely.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been said to be a major factor, and has certainly played a major role. This trend is not just occurring with new professionals, but even those who are seasoned and experienced. These are individuals who initially joined the profession with excitement and enthusiasm. They have spent many long months getting the education needed to do so, but the pressures have been overwhelming, including the immensity and intensity of the pandemic, and the related frustration in dealing with a disease that seems to be “winning” and its collateral consequences.
Allow me a moment to put this into perspective, and develop what I call a “four season analogy.” This analogy involves farming, but it is a concept that can apply to many areas of life, and even healthcare, in this presentation. I know we are all familiar with the four actual seasons, as we experience them on an annual basis to varying degrees, depending on where we live. Despite geographical differences, though, there are still always four seasons.
Starting the cycle with winter, making a decision to enter the healthcare profession is very much like this season, as it is an “intuitive” season: a time for decision-making and planning. It is cold, and not much physically gets accomplished, but it is a time of thinking and planning. Take the farmer who is getting ready for the next planting. They may get the seeds and the fertilizer ready, and plan where the crops will go. In our winter season, we also do our planning, get our thoughts in order, maybe set some goals, and make the decision to get projects started.
Spring is the actual “get started” season, wherein professionals have completed their education, found a job, and embarked on their career. This is where one is right out of the gate with great enthusiasm and energy. The farmer would be preparing the soil, planting the seeds, making the rows straight, and fertilizing and watering the early crop. In both situations, great amounts of energy are being expended, with excitement. Initial challenges are handled with relative ease.
Summer is the “hitting your wall” or “life happens” season. In this situation, it may be the pandemic. This is the season when the challenges start to become more daunting, and maybe even increase in number. We haven’t seen a lot of results yet, and begin to wonder if what we are doing is really working. The farmer may see a drought, or too much rain. The crop may be poor, or it may be overtaken by pests and animals. Your own summer may find you ultra-busy, struggling with family problems or financial strain, fatigue, or burnout. Yet the farmer doesn’t give up on his crop. Should you give up on what you are trying to achieve? It’s tough to be objective under this sort of pressure, and unfortunately, this is the season where the most people quit. They let the weeds of their lives overtake the harvest, even though it is just around the corner. They may not have the drive and resolve to dig deep down and continue plodding along to get to fall: the harvest season. Those who quit will never know how close they were to their harvest. This is where many healthcare professionals may find themselves now.
Yes, fall is the “harvest” season. This is when, if you’ve made it through summer, you can begin to reap the rewards, achieve the satisfaction, and look at the people you saved – not the ones you couldn’t. For the farmer, the crop comes in and goes to market – and it usually is profitable. For others, perhaps they finally get that promotion they’ve been working for, or a big breakthrough, if self-employed. The farmer, the professionals, have successfully weathered some of the toughest challenges and are beginning to receive the satisfaction of achieving positive results. This is not the end, though. As mentioned before, you cannot stay here; you need to reset your goals. You will either go forward or slide backward, because another year of the four seasons will approach.
What season are you in? Are you ready for another cycle? We hope you are, because healthcare workers are our heroes, and not all heroes wear capes. We need you!
Programming Note: Listen to Dr. Zelem every Tuesday on Talk Ten Tuesdays, 10 Eastern.
EDITOR’S NOTE Day 3 of the federal shutdown continues. This article by Mark Spivey is part of a special section today published by RACmonitor and
As expected, the federal shutdown began early Wednesday morning. What’s unknown is how long it will continue. Neither congressional Republicans nor Democrats appear to be
Please log in to your account to comment on this article.
Expert presenters Kathy Pride, RHIT, CPC, CCS-P, CPMA, and Brandi Russell, RHIA, CCS, COC, CPMA, break down complex fracture care coding rules, walk through correct modifier application (-25, -57, 54, 55), and clarify sequencing for initial and subsequent encounters. Attendees will gain the practical knowledge needed to submit clean claims, ensure compliance, and stay one step ahead of payer audits in 2026.
Accurately determining the principal diagnosis is critical for compliant billing, appropriate reimbursement, and valid quality reporting — yet it remains one of the most subjective and error-prone areas in inpatient coding. In this expert-led session, Cheryl Ericson, RN, MS, CCDS, CDIP, demystifies the complexities of principal diagnosis assignment, bridging the gap between coding rules and clinical reality. Learn how to strengthen your organization’s coding accuracy, reduce denials, and ensure your documentation supports true medical necessity.
Denials continue to delay reimbursement, increase administrative burden, and threaten financial stability across healthcare organizations. This essential webcast tackles the root causes—rising payer scrutiny, fragmented workflows, inconsistent documentation, and underused analytics—and offers proven, data-driven strategies to prevent and overturn denials. Attendees will gain practical tools to strengthen documentation and coding accuracy, engage clinicians effectively, and leverage predictive analytics and AI to identify risks before they impact revenue. Through real-world case examples and actionable guidance, this session empowers coding, CDI, and revenue cycle professionals to shift from reactive appeals to proactive denial prevention and revenue protection.
Sepsis remains one of the most frequently denied and contested diagnoses, creating costly revenue loss and compliance risks. In this webcast, Angela Comfort, DBA, MBA, RHIA, CDIP, CCS, CCS-P, provides practical, real-world strategies to align documentation with coding guidelines, reconcile Sepsis-2 and Sepsis-3 definitions, and apply compliant queries. You’ll learn how to identify and address documentation gaps, strengthen provider engagement, and defend diagnoses against payer scrutiny—equipping you to protect reimbursement, improve SOI/ROM capture, and reduce audit vulnerability in this high-risk area.
Stay ahead of the 2026-2027 audit surge with “Top 10 Audit Targets for 2026-2027 for Hospitals & Physicians: Protect Your Revenue,” a high-impact webcast led by Michael Calahan, PA, MBA. This concise session gives hospitals and physicians clear insight into the most likely federal audit targets, such as E/M services, split/shared and critical care, observation and admissions, device credits, and Two-Midnight Rule changes, and shows how to tighten documentation, coding, and internal processes to reduce denials, recoupments, and penalties. Attendees walk away with practical best practices to protect revenue, strengthen compliance, and better prepare their teams for inevitable audits.
As AI reshapes healthcare compliance, the risk of biased outputs and opaque decision-making grows. This webcast, led by Frank Cohen, delivers a practical Four-Pillar Governance Framework—Transparency, Accountability, Fairness, and Explainability—to help you govern AI-driven claim auditing with confidence. Learn how to identify and mitigate bias, implement robust human oversight, and document defensible AI review processes that regulators and auditors will accept. Discover concrete remedies, from rotation protocols to uncertainty scoring, and actionable steps to evaluate vendors before contracts are signed. In a regulatory landscape that moves faster than ever, gain the tools to stay compliant, defend your processes, and reduce liability while maintaining operational effectiveness.
Get clear, practical answers to Medicare’s most confusing regulations. Join Dr. Ronald Hirsch as he breaks down real-world compliance challenges and shares guidance your team can apply right away.
Federal auditors are zeroing in on Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) and hospital rehab unit services, with OIG and CERT audits leading to millions in penalties—often due to documentation and administrative errors, not quality of care. Join compliance expert Michael Calahan, PA, MBA, to learn the five clinical “pillars” of IRF-PPS admissions, key documentation requirements, and real-life case lessons to help protect your revenue.
Happy National Doctor’s Day! Learn how to get a complimentary webcast on ‘Decoding Social Admissions’ as a token of our heartfelt appreciation! Click here to learn more →
CYBER WEEK IS HERE! Don’t miss your chance to get 20% off now until Dec. 1 with code CYBER25
CYBER WEEK IS HERE! Don’t miss your chance to get 20% off now until Dec. 2 with code CYBER24
