Anyone doing HEDIS in west TX?

U.S.A. Texas

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Hi,

I did HEDIS in So. CA for the last 3 springs but I've recently moved to west TX and would like to do this there. Anyone else doing this?

In CA I found the ad for HEDIS in the newspaper, any other suggestions how I might find out where it is being done and by who?

THANKS

So enlighten us Texas nurses...what is HEDIS??

We are employed by insurance companies to go to Dr's offices, clinics and hospitals to see if proper care/follow-up is give to patients according to their diagnosis. You are assigned specific charts to look at to find if care is given as the standard requires. Immunizations, well-child care, B/P control, diabetes control, prenatal/postpartum care, breast cancer, and cervical cancer, are some of the things I've looked for. You will probably look at 1000+ charts during this time. When I lived in So. CA. I had to go to the Palm Springs area 3 times for about 3 days each...it's a nasty job but somebody had to do it. :D Trouble was, by the time you got back to the hotel in the late afternoon, all you wanted to do was eat dinner and do the paperwork :crying2:

I feel I am helping to keep the docs on their toes as they are given a report of how they are doing and where they should improve. Hopefully, we ALL benefit from it :kiss

HEDIS audits are time limited. They are usually done each spring and usually last 2 1/2 to 3 months (at least the ones I've done).

I got paid by the hour in So. CA., I get $30 an hour, that includes my travel time also. Plus we get .375 cents per mile, but my cousin in FL gets paid by the chart. The length of time per chart depends on what we are looking for (some may only take 5 min and others we are looking for a lot more items and could take an hour) and also how well organized the documentation is. Some charts have no dividers so you have to look thru EVERYTHING rather than just go to a specific section. And we all know about docs writing. :angryfire

My cousin, also an RN, alerted me to HEDIS chart audits. We have to go to the insurance company every year for 2 1/2 days of training and refresher and then pass a "test" with 95% accuracy.

I looked in the newspaper classifieds the first year starting in the fall or winter. After that, if you do a good job, the insurance company will contact you each year when it's time to work again. As I said before, it's only part-time, about 3 months, but it's a nice chunk of change and leaves me free to travel the rest of the year. :biggringi :balloons:

Hope this helps.

PS: Mattsmom, I like your quote from the dean. A couple years ago I wrote a letter to the editor of our paper and they contacted me for a Sunday feature. I got a lot of input from members here. Yes, there is NO NURSING SHORTAGE, there is just a shortage of nurses willing to risk their lives and jobs working in the current conditions. THAT'S another reason why I do HEDIS

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