A preliminary study found that a new point-of-care troponin assay safely ruled out acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in a large proportion of patients with symptoms suggestive of acute coronary syndrome, according to the report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Q: Considering the fiscal year 2019 update to the ICD-10-PCS Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting for Transfer procedures, how should we now report a pedicled transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) flap procedure in ICD-10-PCS?
As the task of query creation is becoming more prevalent in coding departments, reviewing essential query requirements is a must for all inpatient coders. This article covers these essential requirements including the growing adoption of electronic medical records, when to query, and pointers for submitting queries to physicians. Note : To access this free article, make sure you first register here if you do not have a paid subscription.
Richard Pinson, MD, FACP, CCS, and Cynthia Tang, RHIA, CCS, review the recently published “Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) Criteria for the Diagnosis of Malnutrition: A Consensus Report From the Global Clinical Nutrition Community” and help coders apply this criteria in ICD-10-CM.
Sarah Humbert, RHIA, and Catrena Smith, CCS, CCS-P, CPCO, CPC, CIC, CPC-I, CRC, CHTS-PW, explore three scenarios for onboarding new inpatient coders and provide valuable advice to prepare them for success.
CMS and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) claims to have identified unspecified upcoding in hospital billing—either accidentally or intentionally reporting higher severity codes than supported by documentation to increase payment. Because of this, these entities will conduct a two-part study to assess inpatient hospital billing, according to the OIG.
Among patients ages 65 years and older, the rate of opioid-related hospitalizations increased more than the rate of nonopioid-related hospitalizations between 2010 and 2015, according to the recent statistical brief published by the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project.
Adriane Martin, DO, FACOS, CCDS, explains the confusion behind the various sepsis definitions and provides guidance to coders when reporting sepsis in ICD-10-CM.
For patients who suffer from frequent symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), the provider may have to increase to prescription strength medications and possibly consider surgical intervention for severe cases. In this article, Shannon McCall, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CEMC, CRC, CCDS, HCS-D, reviews ICD-10-CM/PCS coding for these GERD diagnoses and procedures. Note : To access this free article, make sure you first register here if you do not have a paid subscription.
