New study reinforces SDoH impact
Focus on the social determinants of health (SDoH) continues to intensify nationwide, and that means potentially higher costs of care for healthcare organizations. The recent study by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health has the industry buzzing.
The four largest cities in the U.S., Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Houston, are reconciling major issues that have them face to face with the SDoH. The impact is hitting their minority communities, mostly Black and Hispanic households, with an evident fiscal impact for the industry.
The survey, titled, The Impact of Coronavirus on Households in Major U.S. Cities, was conducted July 1-Aug. 3, with 3,454 adults of ages 18 or older polled. These individuals included the following:
All participants fell across several income categories:
Survey results from all four cities illustrated that at least 50 percent of respondents experienced the loss of a job or reduction in wages or work hours in their household since COVID began.
Finally, all four cities had high numbers of their respondents report having someone in the household employed by the healthcare industry. A total of 73 percent of persons surveyed expressed serious concern about the safety of their family members on the job, with concern in L.A. the highest of all four cities, at 78 percent. The report makes for interesting reading, with the PDF located in our weekly folder.
The pandemic continues to further grow concerns associated with the SDoH and the massive fiscal impact for healthcare organizations. Are your non-COVID patients coming in sicker due to avoiding care? If so, they potentially will cost more to care for. Our Monitor Mondays Listeners Survey asked that very question, with the survey results here.
Programming Note: Ellen Fink-Samnick, a member of the RACmonitor editorial board, is a permanent panelist on Monitor Mondays. Listen to her live reporting on SDoH every Monday at 10 a.m. EST.
Readers last week surely noted my coverage of a few of the key regulatory initiatives the Biden Administration intends to undertake during the last part
Well, the debate was held between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, and healthcare, particularly the Affordable Care Act (ACA), emerged as
Please log in to your account to comment on this article.
Join Beth Wolf, MD, CPC, CCDS, for an in-depth webcast on the FY2025 spinal fusion MS-DRG updates. Discover key changes in DRG classification, understand impacts on documentation and CMI, and learn strategies to ensure compliance.
Join Angela Comfort, DBA, MBA, RHIA, CDIP, CCS, CCS-P, as she presents effective strategies to strengthen collaboration between CDI, coding, and quality departments in acute care hospitals. Angela will also share guidance on implementing cross-departmental meetings, using shared KPIs, and engaging leadership to foster a culture of collaboration. Attendees will gain actionable tools to optimize documentation accuracy, elevate quality metrics, and drive a unified approach to healthcare goals, ultimately enhancing both patient outcomes and organizational performance.
Optimize your outpatient clinical documentation and gain comprehensive knowledge from foundational practices to advanced technologies, ensuring improved patient care and organizational and financial success. This webcast bundle provides a holistic approach to outpatient CDI, empowering you to implement best practices from the ground up and leverage advanced strategies for superior results. You will gain actionable insights to improve documentation quality, patient care, compliance, and financial outcomes.
Enhancing outpatient clinical documentation is crucial for maintaining accuracy, compliance, and proper reimbursement in today’s complex healthcare environment. This webcast, presented by industry expert Angela Comfort, DBA, RHIA, CDIP, CCS, CCS-P, will provide you with actionable strategies to tackle complex challenges in outpatient documentation. You’ll learn how to craft detailed clinical narratives, utilize advanced EHR features, and implement accurate risk adjustment and HCC coding. The session also covers essential regulatory updates to keep your documentation practices compliant. Join us to gain the tools you need to improve documentation quality, support better patient care, and ensure financial integrity.
Dr. Ronald Hirsch provides critical details on the new Medicare Appeal Process for Status Changes for patients whose status changes during their hospital stay. He also delves into other scenarios of hospital patients receiving custodial care or medically unnecessary services where patient notifications may be needed along with the processes necessary to ensure compliance with state and federal guidance.
Healthcare organizations face complex regulatory requirements under the No Surprises Act and Price Transparency rules. These policies mandate extensive fee disclosures across settings, and confusion is widespread—many hospitals remain unaware they must post every contracted rate. Non-compliance could lead to costly penalties, financial loss, and legal risks. Join David M. Glaser Esq. as he shows you how to navigate these regulations effectively.
Protect your facility from unwanted audits! Join Becky Jacobsen, BSN, RN, MBS, CCS-P, CPC, CPEDC, CBCS, CEMC, and take a deep dive into both the CMS and AMA guidelines for reporting post operative pain blocks. You’ll learn how to determine if the nerve block is separately codable with real life examples for better understanding. Becky will also cover how to evaluate whether documentation supports medical necessity, offer recommendations for stronger documentation practices, and provide guidance on educating providers about documentation requirements. She’ll include a discussion of appropriate modifier and diagnosis coding assignment so that you can be confident that your billing of post operative pain blocks is fully supported and compliant.
During this RACmonitor webcast Dr. Ronald Hirsch spotlights the areas of the OIG’s Work Plan and the findings of their most recent audits that impact utilization review, case management, and audit staff. He also provides his common-sense interpretation of the prevailing regulations related to those target issues. You’ll walk away better equipped with strategies to put in place immediately to reduce your risk of paybacks, increased scrutiny, and criminal penalties.
Copyright © 2024 RACmonitor. Powered by MedLearn Media.
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 →
