Foundation for Healthy Communities to bring ICD-10 Trainers to NH Critical Access Hospitals

BEDFORD, Mass. - March 12, 2015 - PRLog -- The Foundation for Healthy Communities announced it is collaborating with nationally recognized ICD-10 experts and Libman Education course authors Lynn Kuehn, MS, RHIA, CCS-P, FAHIMA, and Gail I. Smith MA, RHIA, CCS-P, to provide customized ICD-10-PCS training to New Hampshire’s critical access hospitals in May, 2015. The program, funded by the Health Resource and Services Administration (HRSA) under its Small Rural Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP) Grant, provides free training to the hospitals for their providers and coders. Organizing this important event is The Foundation for Healthy Communities, an affiliate organization of the New Hampshire Hospital Association that engages in innovative partnerships to improve health and health care in New Hampshire.

Greg Vasse, Director of the Rural Quality Improvement Network for the Foundation for Healthy Communities and chief architect of the grant, remarked that “in addition to receiving PCS training from industry experts at no charge, the SHIP grant also funds the coders’ mentoring and shadowing through a dual coding ICD-9/ICD-10 exercise. The program is a giant step forward in acknowledging the need for trained coders and reflects our commitment to their success and their critical contributions to the organization.”

“This is an important development for New Hampshire critical access hospitals,” said Lynn Kuehn, one of the presenters. “Due to the SHIP grant for ICD-10, coders and physicians from each of the state’s critical access hospitals are being provided with free ICD-10-PCS training. Because of this, Gail Smith and I can help prepare them for the fast-approaching ICD-10 deadline so that these hospitals can make a smooth transition.”

Event details:

The medical coding training is May 13-15, and is to be held at the Southern New Hampshire University campus in Manchester; housing is included in the campus dorm pods. Physician training is planned for May 12 and 18-22 throughout New Hampshire.

Each coder at the training session will receive a set of Libman Education’s ICD-10 Root Operations Flash Cards, which have seen high demand from individual coders and hospitals alike. The cards help coders to learn the ICD-10-PCS root operations quickly and to know how to identify each root operation in a medical record.

Attendees will also receive a copy of the nationally recognized ICD-10-PCS training handbook, ICD-10-PCS: An Applied Approach, 2015 Edition, co-authored by Lynn Kuehn.  ICD-10-PCS: An Applied Approach is being used by Libman Education as a textbook for its online suite of ICD-10-PCS courses.

Speaking for Libman Education, COO Susan Pepple commented, “Greg Vasse has an exceptional track record of leading and managing healthcare organizations. He was instrumental in crafting a solution which may be a model for the nation. We are gratified to be a part of this landmark program and with our deep roots in providing customized real-world coder training, we are proud to support this program.”

ABOUT THE FOUNDATION FOR HEALTHY COMMUNITIES

The Foundation for Healthy Communities is an organization that engages in innovative partnerships to improve health and health care in New Hampshire. Their work addresses quality of care, access to care and community prevention. The Foundation for Healthy Communities is an affiliated organization of the New Hampshire Hospital Association. http://healthynh.com

ABOUT LIBMAN EDUCATION

Libman Education Inc. is a leading provider of training for the health care workforce. Libman Education offers self-paced online courses designed and developed by leading industry experts in Health Information Management (HIM) and Medical Record Coding. Courseware is designed for individuals as well as health care providers and institutions, public and private workforce development training programs, and professional and volunteer associations interested in preparing their employees and members for the challenges facing the HIM workforce.  http://www.libmaneducation.com