Q: I have a patient with stage IV lung cancer that presented with fatigue, cough, and loss of appetite. Initially, they thought he had pulmonary nodular amyloidosis, but when they did an echocardiogram on day one they found a pericardial effusion. How would this be sequenced and coded?
The American Health Information Management Association has officially responded to proposed ICD-10-CM/PCS codes that were presented at the ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance Committee meeting held in March by CMS.
Lori-Lynne A. Webb, CPC, CCS-P, CCP, CHDA, COBGC, CDIP, reviews scenarios for initial, subsequent, and sequela encounters, and helps coders better understand how to assign seventh characters for each type of encounter. Note: To access this free article, make sure you first register if you do not have a paid subscription.
Kimberly Anderwood Hoy Baker, JD, writes about the many changes in the 2017 IPPS proposed rule, and explains how almost everyone could be affected by CMS’ proposals.
The FY 2017 IPPS proposed rule addresses MS-DRG classifications and relative weights pertaining to the categories of other cardiothoracic procedures without MCC, and injuries, poisonings and toxic effects of drugs.
Robert S. Gold, MD, writes about important changes made in hypertension since ICD-9-CM, and helps coders better understand the relatively complex diagnosis.
With a widespread lack of awareness of national best practice guidelines for malnutrition, Joannie Crotts, RN, BSN, CPC , and Szilvia Kovacs, MS, RD, LDN , explain how identifying and diagnosing the condition is often still difficult, and how important changes can be made to improve a facility’s malnutrition program.
Q: We are currently using a hybrid medical record, so we have standard query forms with multiple-choice options that cannot be modified at this time. We wanted to include a statement so our query doesn’t seem leading. Is our approach to the multiple-choice query format appropriate?
CMS issued the fiscal year 2017 IPPS proposed rule on April 18, and has proposed changes to the Medicare Code Editor software program based on numerous provider requests.