CMS recently released the 2018 IPPS final rule, with updates to various quality initiatives, annual payment updates for inpatient services, and an extensive amount of now-annual ICD-10-PCS code additions, deletions, and revisions. This article reviews guideline updates, the addition of “other devices” characters, and new tables added for root operation Replacement. Note: To access this free article, make sure you first register here if you do not have a paid subscription.
In Major Diagnostic Category 1, Diseases and Disorders of the Nervous System, which covers MS-DRGs 020-103, CMS made changes to the classification of the diagnoses of functional quadriplegia and precerebral occlusion or transient ischemic attack with the use of a thrombolytic, as well as for the insertion of a responsive neurostimulator system. Note: To access this free article, make sure you first register here if you do not have a paid subscription.
Don’t automatically presume a link between two conditions within a combination code in cases when a guideline requires that link to be explicitly documented, the latest version of the ICD-10-CM coding guidelines clarify.
Julia Hammerman, RHIA, CPHQ , and Sam Champagnie , explain how the newness and specificity of ICD-10 ushered in a stronger focus on clinical coding audits and how coding audit best practices shifted following implementation.
Shannon E. McCall, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CPC-I, CEMC, CRC, CCDS , writes about congestive heart failure and covers symptoms, coding best practices, and treatment for the disease using new ICD-10 for 2018.
Crystal Stalter, CDIP, CCS-P, CPC, writes that with the release of the 2018 IPPS final rule, hospitals around the country are poring over it to see what impact the changes might bring to their case-mix index, quality initiatives, and overall reimbursement. In the midst of this are coders and CDI specialists who need to be kept abreast of these changes.
Q: Our team had a recent case that involved a small midline episiotomy which extended to a second-degree laceration which was repaired with 3-0 vicryl rapide sutures. Would we code the episiotomy and repair or just the repair, and why?
On Wednesday, August 2, CMS released the fiscal year 2018 IPPS final rule which featured updates to various quality initiatives, along with annual payment updates for inpatient services.
James S. Kennedy, MD, CCS, CDIP, CCDS, says that with the news codes available October 1, coders will face significant changes in documentation and coding practices. He discusses some of the additional new codes, including type 2 diabetes mellitus with ketoacidosis and pulmonary hypertension.
