October 5, 2012 - Baptist Memorial Health Care

A R O U N D T H E S Y S T E M
Coding
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“We are excited about the process of centralized hospital coding in the
Baptist system,” said Bill Griffin, vice president of Corporate Finance. “The
corporate coding management team we have assembled from throughout our
organization embodies the leadership needed to respond timely to the
constantly changing health care environment.”
Griffin explained that “Centralization improves retention and the ability to
establish and monitor coder productivity. In addition, our coders are excited
about the advantages including opportunities for career advancement and
continued education.”
The research Baptist conducted, led by Nancy Cardamone, indicated that
with the upcoming transition to ICD-10 centralized coding would be best for
our organization.
Baptist donates defibrillators to help a
community theater save lives
Griffin further noted that other health care organizations across the
country with electronic health records are centralizing coding because of the
many advantages to their organizations including standardization of
processes, pools of coding resources, higher coding productivity etc.
Individual Baptist hospitals will no longer have to worry about recruiting
and/or retaining coders, which has been a challenge. Baptist coders will
continue to work both from their homes or the local hospital facility
however, the expectation is that over time more coders will migrate to
working remotely from home. Corporate Health Information Management
and Coding will streamline and standardize coding processes for the Epic
build and implementation. The new system will also provide additional
support when patient volumes fluctuate.
The decision to implement centralized coding is another example of
Baptist leadership in proactively meeting the challenges of the ever changing
health care environment.
Annual golf tournament raises record
amount to support Baptist Heart Institute
A consultant teaches Playhouse on the Square staff how to operate automated
external defibrillators. Baptist Memorial Health Care donated AEDs to the theater in
August.
Jackie Nichols has a keen interest in the automated external defibrillators
being installed at Playhouse on the Square, where he serves as the
executive producer.
His son, Jordan, was part of the cast for the first show to be held in the
newly renovated theater more than two years ago. Two weeks before the
show opened, while out to dinner with friends, Jordan passed out and
stopped breathing on his own.
The waitress at the restaurant was also a nursing school student. She
immediately performed CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on
Jordan until the paramedics arrived. With her quick help, and the defibrillators
on the ambulance, Jordan was revived. He was in a medically
induced coma for several days and was eventually diagnosed with Brugada
syndrome. Brugada syndrome is a genetic disease that increases the risk
of sudden cardiac death. It shows no symptoms, is usually fatal and is
most common in young, healthy males, like Jordan.
“This hit home to me because if the ambulance didn’t get there and the
waitress didn’t know CPR, Jordan would likely have passed away,” said
Jackie.
Since then, staff at Playhouse on the Square has been trained in CPR.
Jackie knew that the theater needed to do more for the safety of its staff,
cast members and theatergoers. The American Heart Association highly
recommends that public venues have automated external defibrillators.
The theater wasn’t able to purchase AEDs, so Baptist Memorial Health
Care donated the equipment.
“Baptist is committed to serving our community neighbors,” said
Cynthia Allen, manager of system community involvement for Baptist
Memorial Health Care. “Last year, we provided more than $169 million in
community benefit.”
Dr. James Klemis from The Stern Cardiovascular Foundation chips a ball out of the
sand at the Cardiac Classic event at Spring Creek Country Club, Monday, Sept. 24.
The annual golf tournament raised a record $129,975 to support the Baptist Heart
Institute. Funds are delivered through the Heart Fund, a Baptist Memorial Health
Care Foundation program that provides financial support for initiatives that benefit
cardiovascular patients and their care, including medications to needy patients, cardiovascular
equipment, and education for nurses and staff.
“The equipment was donated to us through Baptist’s generosity,” said
Jackie. “The greatest thing would be if the equipment was never used. But
if we need it, we have it now.”
More than 50,000 people are in the theater each year. The Playhouse
on the Square staff received training for the AED equipment in early
September.
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