The adoption of ICD-10 code sets for reporting diagnosis and procedures to payers is set to occur on October 14, 2014.  Undoubtedly, if you haven’t heard much about these changes yet, you will soon.

The new code sets, which more than quadruples the number of reporting codes to over 69,000, represents an amazing increase in the level of reporting and detail.  The benefits of this transition include:

• More accurate coding for diagnosis and procedures
• Better billing accuracy
• Better ability to track disease
• Pervasive use of codes throughout systems

The ICD-10 conversion may require a wide variety of application changes for healthcare provider organizations – something akin to a Y2K event.  The changes will impact everything from billing systems, to practice management and EHR.

Many in the healthcare community believe that there is at least a chance for the implementation date to change, but virtually everyone agrees that the transition will take place, as the US is one of the last developed countries in the world to make this change.  Identifying a project sponsor and strategic steering board as champions for this massive transition are starting points for the adoption of ICD-10 code sets.

Sheila Rogers, Founder and CEO

Whether we like it or not, personal selling is important in any profession.  In HIT, we need to sell ideas and concepts, strategies and solutions.  Our “buyers” include bosses and co-workers.  Here are some personal selling tips that may help you today, or sometime in the near future:

1) Be sincere with people. People are smart and see right through insincerity. If you are not sincere and honest with everyone you meet then you should not be selling anything.

2) Sell what you believe in. If you do not have a passion what you are selling you will not be happy–or very successful.

3) It is vitally important to constantly hone your sales and communications skills. Continuous growth and training in formal professional selling techniques is also very important. Take training classes, listen to professional development audio podcasts and seminars, read all the professional development material you can get your hands on, and start a program of self-study and development in sales today if you haven’t already.

4) First listen to your “customer”, understand his or her wants and needs, and only then try to determine whether or not you can deliver the product or services to meet those wants and needs. If you approach a prospect with a solution before understanding the problem you are likely to be wrong about the solution.

5) The best sales people ask a lot of questions and genuinely listen to the answers before speaking again.  (This is probably the reason we have two ears and one mouth!)

6) Your “customers” are all different so you should treat them differently.

Remember, personal selling is a lot like a first impression…you only get one shot before an opinion is made.  So, put your best foot forward in selling yourself, the ideas you have and the solutions you can offer in HIT.  Good Luck!

-Sheila Rogers

Sheila Rogers is Founder and CEO of HIT Consulting Jobs.  She can be reached at 214-929-8959, or sheila@hitconsultingjobs.com.

<Cherie Lester with EngageMeHIT (www.engagemehit.blogspot.com) wrote this great blog — Thanks Cherie - Sheila>

Over the past 5 years I have spoken to hundreds of EMR Professionals that want to enter the world of the traveling consultant.  Most consultants in our industry will travel weekly on a Mon-Thurs or Sun-Thurs schedule with exceptions for longer stays on a client site or variable remote work. 

When discussing the nature of weekly travel to a “newbie” I have learned to play devil’s advocate.  The first person I ever interviewed when I entered into the HCIT Industry had never traveled before.  He assured me that he “LOVED” to travel and was totally “psyched” about the opportunity.  Six months into his engagement he called me to resign, said he couldn’t take the weekly travel any longer.

 Recently I discussed the riggers of weekly travel with some seasoned road warriors.  Below are results of the Q & A from those discussions:

What made you decide to start traveling for work? Most Frequent Responses:  Higher Income.  New Surroundings and co-workers with each new engagement. Enjoy travel & seeing new locations.

What was the hardest adjustment you had to make when you transitioned into traveling weekly for work? Most Frequent Responses: Being away from family(pets). Missing out on family or other functions (weekly bowling or child’s plays etc) and having to leave spouse to do all the work. Navigating the airports, luggage, flight delays, airport security etc.

What do you wish all consulting/staffing firms offered that would make your travel life easier for you?

This question received the most diverse answers, some of the most frequent responses were:  Corporate Credit Card for travel, better discounts on hotel, car, flights etc.  Occasionally paying for spouse to travel, like over the holiday work weeks etc., better assistance for new travelers, even something simple like a handbook with traveling suggestions.

What did you have to give up when you started traveling weekly?  The number one answer was time with family and friends, some other responses were: freedom to join sports leagues or meet friends for dinner once a week during the week, and for single folks: having a pet, being home during bad weather (someone had a water-main break in sub zero temps and didn’t realize until they got home days later) and being in one place so it’s easier to start a romantic relationship.

What did you gain from becoming a traveling consultant?  Some of the top answers for this question were:  better income, seeing out of town family & relatives more, greater independence, being able to travel to new places, less stress, meeting new people, and quiet time at the hotel in the evenings.

Here are a list of tips from the road warriors:

1.  Pack Light!  Learn to pack everything you need for the week into a carry-on bag.

2.  When traveling coast to coast, find extended stay hotels and if you travel home, leave most of your belongings at the hotel during your absence.

3.  You can bring your pet, just check for local pet friendly hotels.

4.  Always have an extra charger (computer, phone, iPod etc) handy.

5.  Make sure your ID, discount cards, credit cards etc are kept in the same place, are always handy and are in a front pocket for safe keeping.

6.  Keep a folder or file or zippered pouch for all your travel receipts so they’re easy to locate at the end of the week for the purpose of scanning and emailing or mailing to your employer. (if you’re 1099, for tax purposes)

7.  Set up a calendar alert to remind you to log your time & file your expense receipts each week.

8.  Know the name and number to your employers IT Helpdesk in case you have problems with your company issued lap top.

9. Whenever possible do not wear a belt, difficult to remove shoes, hair pins, excessive jewelry, etc so that you can move through airport security quickly.  Make sure your laptop is housed in a safe but easy to manipulate bag, keep your pockets empty etc.

10. If you are single and live alone, make sure you have a neighbor or relative that can check on your place of residence in your absence.

11.  Provide neighbors and relatives the name and number of your hotel, along with your cell phone so they can easily contact you in case of an emergency.

12.  Have the number of your direct boss, a company co-worker and your direct report at the client hospital programmed into your cell phone, that way if your flight is delayed you will be able to alert people of your delay.

Sheila Rogers, Founder and CEO

We all know that social and business media is exploding online.  The HIT industry is no exception.

I was at a seminar the other day, and the speaker used this simple example to explain social media:

• Twitter – I am eating a hamburger
• Facebook – I like hamburgers
• FourSquare – This is where I eat hamburgers
• Instagram – Here is a vintage picture of my hamburger
• YouTube – Here is a video of me eating my hamburger
• LinkedIn – My skills include eating hamburgers
• Pinterest – Here is a hamburger recipe
• LastFM – Now listening to hamburgers

A couple years ago, I knew very little about these tools.  Today, I am considered an “expert” by some.

I encourage you to get on the train!  Healthcare IT will continue to grow the use social media to inform, educate, motivate and recruit.

-Sheila Rogers

Sheila Rogers is Founder and CEO of HIT Consulting Jobs, and can be reached at 214-929-8959, or via email at sheila@hitconsultingjobs.com.

Sheila Rogers, Founder and CEO

HIT folks live busy lives.  Writing to-do lists is an important way to accomplish your short-term goals.  This can be good for your body, soul and mind.

Making a list will decrease stress, increase productivity, keep you organized and focused, and give you a sense of accomplishment.

I start with a list each morning, made the night before.  It includes the things I want to accomplish that day (at the top of the list), and my longer-term goals on the bottom.   I come in each day and I have a roadmap and can hit the ground running. It makes my day run much more smoothly.

Preparation goes a long way when it comes to being more productive. Investing some time into the simple task of list making offers big returns.

Want more reasons to make a daily list?  Here you go:

1. We are busy folks, and things can slip through the cracks

It’s true – the average adult attention span is about fifteen minutes, so we are bound to let a few tasks fall through the cracks here and there.  As you think of something, write it down.  Keep a pad of paper on your desk, and move from one sheet to the next daily.

2. There are more interruptions available to take you off track today than ever

Living in a wired (or wireless) world creates constant interruption.  You mobile phone rings, your email pings, you just received a new text!!! Get the picture?   With a list – you have a reference to always go back to that will keep you on track when you get interrupted.  If you need to write Julie back but your boss calls, write on your to-do list – “e-mail Julie.”

3. You should always be prepared

Whether you are preparing for a major presentation or job hunting, you need a list to keep your priorities in check.

If you have a list you have foolproof way to keep your focus.  Do it, and enjoy getting more done!

-Sheila

Sheila Rogers is Founder and CEO of BSG Boards.  She can be reached at 214-929-8959, or via email at sheila@hitpermjobs.com.

“How would you make my resume more effective?”

“What would you do to improve my resume?”

I am often asked these questions by senior healthcare IT consultants and employees who have posted their resume on my job boards.  Resume writing requires a high level of analysis, marketing expertise and special writing skills.  The most important part of the resume is the part many people write poorly…The value statement. 

THE VALUE STATEMENT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF ANY RESUME. 

In my opinion, in order to have a great resume, you have to have a great value statement.  It should be well researched and well written.  It is the statement about YOU that makes the hiring manager want to read more.  It should be located at the beginning of the resume, just below your name and contact information.

The crucial Value Statement (also sometimes called a personal branding statement or a value proposition) must be powerful and succinct.  It should describe your desire for the position, your ability to solve a problem, and offer immediate value to the hiring manager that reads your resume. 

Unfortunately, the value statement is often either poorly worded or unclear or weak or has been omitted.  Thus, your main selling message, your value statement, will be unimpressive or confusing or missing. Nowadays, that could be fatal.

So, how does one go about writing an awesome value statement?

A well-crafted value statement tells the hiring manager three extremely important things in a single sentence:

1. What job does the candidate want?

2. What single problem can the candidate solve better than anyone other candidate?

3. How will you deliver value for the organization?

If you answer these questions accurately and intelligently in your value statement, you will have an improved resume and assured yourself a better chance to land the healthcare IT job you want.

The adoption of ICD-10 code sets for reporting diagnosis and procedures to payers is set to occur on October 14, 2014.  Undoubtedly, if you haven’t heard much about these changes yet, you will soon. 

The new code sets, which more than quadruples the number of reporting codes to over 69,000, represents an amazing increase in the level of reporting and detail.  The benefits of this transition include:

• More accurate coding for diagnosis and procedures
• Better billing accuracy
• Better ability to track disease
• Pervasive use of codes throughout systems

The ICD-10 conversion may require a wide variety of application changes for healthcare provider organizations – something akin to a Y2K event.  The changes will impact everything from billing systems, to practice management and EHR.

Many in the healthcare community believe that there is at least a chance for the implementation date to change, but virtually everyone agrees that the transition will take place, as the US is one of the last developed countries in the world to make this change.  Identifying a project sponsor and strategic steering board as champions for this massive transition are starting points for the adoption of ICD-10 code sets.

So, now we know. President Barack Obama will get four more years in the White House. Republicans will control the House. Democrats will control the Senate.

What does it all mean for health care, and specifically “Obamacare”, AKA the Affordable Care Act?  It may be too soon to know what changes might be made to the Affordable Care Act. What we do know is that the most effective health care reform will happen through collaboration at the local level among health systems, physicians, employers and payers.

Health care is not and should not be a partisan issue. Both parties must work together to meet the challenges of providing quality health care for the people in the communities they serve and control the cost of care.  America must change the way people think and act about their health, and employers can have a significant impact on that. But it will take all of us working together to do it.

Hospitals and Systems should stay on the path to the strategic plans built to meet changing regulatory requirements while keeping their focus on the critical imperatives to improve the quality and safety of care and coordinate care across the continuum from birth to death.

As one CEO of a major healthcare system put it: “We have four major priorities: aligning hospitals, physicians and other providers across the continuum of care; utilizing evidence-based practices to improve quality and patient safety; improving efficiency through productivity and financial management; and developing new models of health care delivery that focus on quality, prevention and wellness.”  Well said, and good luck!

Thanksgiving is a time for friends, family and tradition. It is an opportunity to kick back, relax and take a short break from our busy lives. This year the HIT Job Boards would like to express gratitude to the many clients, visitors and sponsors of our Health IT Community. With your support, we have continued to grow and develop into the go-to meeting place for HIT professionals.

Only two short years ago Sheila Rogers had a vision of creating a niche-specific site where healthcare IT employers and consultants/employees could meet without the clutter of mainstream job boards. Since the launch of HIT Consulting Jobs, we have added two additional sites and created a Healthcare IT ecosystem online, via three HIT/HIM specific job boards, HIT Consulting Jobs, HIT Perm Jobs and ICD-10 Jobs Online. With the continued growth and popularity of the HIT job boards, our team has some exciting and ambitious plans for the new year.

As always, we appreciate and welcome your feedback. Without this communication, we could not continue to improve and make the community a more enjoyable experience for you. You can reach Sheila, sheila@hitconsultingjobs.com, or Renee, renee@hitconsultingjobs.com, at any time.

No matter how you plan to celebrate this week, the Thanksgiving tradition teaches us to be grateful for what we have and encourages us to continue that appreciation throughout the year. “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” -John Fitzgerald Kennedy 

Our Sincere Thanks,

-The HIT Team