After installation, HORSE needs to be trained to read your unique encounter data. If you are abstracting both Inpatient and Outpatient data, it is best to use the same report for Inpatient and Outpatient encounters, otherwise you will have to change the setup each time you switch between Inpatient and Outpatient.
1 – Click on the “Setup” button on HORSE.
2 – HORSE has to be ‘taught’ your billing system’s coding values for sex, race, Hispanic, discharge codes, date and time formats, and the layout of the output file. Click each button on the Data Coding / Dictionaries to set up each code object.
3 – For sex code, whether your system uses numbers, letters or words, use the “Sex Codes” form to ‘teach’ HORSE how your data codes sex. Once you have done that, click on the “Save Changes” button to save the results and exit the form.
4 – Next, enter the values for Race codes. NOTE: your system may have different race codes than the ones used by CMS / CART. Try to match your codes as well as possible. If your system has more than one code for the same CMS value (UTD / Unknown for example), you can indicate this in the space provided, using a comma to separate the distinct codes. See example below. If you also don’t have a different code for Asian and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, leave one of the CMS values blank – don’t repeat the same code in more than one CMS value space.
5 – Use the same process to ‘teach’ HORSE how to read the Hispanic, discharge status and date / time formats.
6 – Finally, ‘teach’ HORSE where the different data parts are in the output file.
- The numbers correspond to the column(s) where the report put the data.
- In some cases, you may have a range of columns, the form allows for this.
- If you only have one column for EM code, enter the same value for start and end column. E&M are specialized CPT codes are needed for Outpatient ED visit identification – CPT Codes: 99281, 99282, 99283, 99284, 99285, 99291. If your CPT code list includes the E/M codes, you can tell HORSE where the CPT code list is in the output file.
- Your data may also not have certain parts, such as physician ID or Medicare ID. In this case, leave the value blank.
7 – Save the changes, and proceed to the main HORSE form / screen. If you haven’t already done so, indicate the CMS Cert Number for your facility and the Destination Path (the location you want HORSE to put the output from the HORSE file generation). If you have the correct CMS Cert Number, your facility name should appear to the right of the number.
