Thanks for the Opportunity to Share!

  It wasn’t until Today’s Wound Clinic (TWC) launched in the spring of 2007 and I was named to the editorial board that I realized how much planning and effort goes into a professional medical journal. From selecting article themes that are pertinent to readers and advertisers each month to identifying expert industry authors and writing my own column while making sure deadlines are met in time for layout, artwork, proofreading, and printing — adhering to a publication schedule can be a revolving cycle of challenges. And to think that at one time all I had to concern myself with was writing what was asked of me as an author!

  With the assistance of my fellow board members, TWC always strives to meet the needs of wound care providers. One such example is through our Reader Reports, regularly occurring surveys distributed to readers via email. In one of our most recent reports, readers consistently stated they wanted to see more articles on reimbursement (even when considering that my monthly Business Briefs column is devoted to exactly that).

  Therefore, I was honored to be invited to take on an even more expansive role with this special issue of TWC you now hold in your hands by assuming the responsibility of planning much of the agenda for the articles you’ll find within. With this journal issue focusing on reimbursement issues and trends for 2015, we provide an overview of new codes that should be incorporated into one’s wound care businesses, review many of the misunderstood codes that were highlighted in the aforementioned survey, offer our “Wound Care Clinician’s Quality Reporting Survival Guide,” and continue to assist wound care providers and program directors in meeting ICD-10-CM implementation.

  To that end, on page 17 fellow board member Donna J. Cartwright, MPA, RHIA, CCS, RAC, FAHIMA, once again shares her remarkable ICD-10 knowledge through her Wound Care Documentation Case Study, as part of a series she’s committed to write until ICD-10 actually goes live. This month’s edition features an exercise on coding for graft complications.

  Piggybacking off last year’s ICD-10 Diagnosis Coding Documentation Tips, these case studies should be shared with all wound care professionals and coders responsible for preparing ICD-10 implementation scheduled for Oct. 1. Many readers have told me they’ve snipped all the tools related to ICD-10 that TWC continues to provide and that they’ve been useful in training and/or retraining entire clinic teams.

  I hope all readers will be inspired to commit considerable efforts to further plan for implementation of ICD-10 through utilization of the myriad ICD-10 resources available today. For the TWC staff, helping our readers prepare for this new coding system will continue to be a year-round assignment to be highlighted by our May 2015 issue that’s been designated to be completely dedicated to ICD-10 prep. Be sure to set some time aside to study it cover to cover!

  Readers may also want to enlist some assistance from qualified healthcare professionals (QHPs) in their respective wound care businesses who may have already mastered ICD-10 documentation. After all, QHPs learn best from one another. Either way, everyone must be ready for Oct. 1.

  In further response to the aforementioned Reader Report, I’ve written an article in this issue that describes Medicare payment trends and tips. Although I could have written an entire book about this topic, I think the article will serve as a good checklist to be sure you are prepared for 2015 Medicare payment changes. You can find this article beginning on page 7.

  Speaking of Medicare payment changes, I am very excited about the previously alluded to wound care clinicians’ quality reporting survival guide offered in the pages ahead by another fellow board member and TWC clinical editor Caroline E. Fife, MD, FAAFP, CWS, FUHM. If you haven’t heard and/or don’t believe that Medicare plans to convert a significant portion of the traditional fee-for-service payment to payment based on quality, value, and patient satisfaction, you need to read Dr. Fife’s article very carefully.

  When I invited Dr. Fife to write this article for this issue on reimbursement, I knew it would be a challenge to devise a “cookbook” about this multifaceted quality reporting system. However, as she always does, Dr. Fife delivers more than expected, and my reaction to her manuscript, as I’m sure yours will be, is “awesome.” This article will give you a better understanding of why Dr. Fife felt compelled to help create wound-specific quality measures that can be reported via the US Wound Registry through her work with the group as its executive director.

Parting Thought

  I hope this special reimbursement issue of TWC satisfies many of the inquiries into reimbursement topics that you’ve requested. In my role I will continue to do my best to cover timely and interesting reimbursement topics.

  If you and your team need more in-depth knowledge than any issue of a single journal can provide, please join Andrea Clark Rubinowitz, RHIA, CCS, CPCH and yours truly at one of this year’s Wound Clinic Business seminars, where we will thoroughly share wound care coding, payment, coverage, and auditing knowledge with all attendees. For a schedule and agenda for these meetings, visit www.woundclinicbusiness.com.