Congress Abstracts 2006

29

PRECISE CODING AND BILLING FOR THE ONCOLOGY NURSE. Rosalee Miller, RN, OCN^®, and Ron Digiaimo, Revenue Cycle Inc., Austin, TX.

With the rising cost of health care, reimbursement cuts, and ongoing changes of Medicare, nurses are finding their roles as caregivers changing. They now have to become frontline experts in areas of coding and billing. This workshop will be designed to give an overview of proper CPT, HCPCS, and ICD-9 coding, and the affects and outcomes of improper coding.

The objectives of the workshop will be to give an overview of the basics of billing and coding and have an in-depth education of the coding changes for 2006 in order to equip the nurse to function in the clinical practice setting with the least amount of discontent and apprehension to maintain excellent patient care.

Nurses will gain knowledge and understanding in coding and billing to take back to the clinic for implementation.

Several colleagues over the past 5 years have openly expressed the challenge of their nursing roles to now include frontline knowledge of proper coding/billing in order to maintain revenue, while trying to maintain excellent patient care. With the many changes a need to have a workshop that meet their needs, in their time frame and provide continuing mentorship was felt favored.

With clinics feeling the effect of the nursing shortage in oncology, it is imperative that those of us who are experienced in oncology gain an understanding and a strong knowledge base for the changing roles. This will be beneficial in the effort to retain and recruit qualified nursing staff. By equipping ourselves with this knowledge as nurses we can share our expertise with our colleagues, with the final product being increase revenue, increased staff support and long-term longevity in the field of oncology.