The beginning of the year is a time to go back to basics—or even, in some cases, to start over. Revisiting information on how to conduct a medical record review may, at first glance, feel like a basic or beginner topic. But medical record review is an important subject for all CDI professionals, and even coders, to consider.
Karen, a 67-year-old patient with a history of hypertension, diabetes, and tobacco use, presents to her primary care physician with complaints of pain in her right buttock and thigh when she walks from her house to her mailbox. She is then admitted as an inpatient for surgery.
Assigning the appropriate ICD-10-PCS code for spinal procedures can be a challenge for inpatient coders, as they need to correctly assign the entirety of a seven-character ICD-10-PCS code.
Coders often wonder how to define realistic productivity benchmarks. Different facilities establish the responsibilities and expectations of their coding teams, so productivity standards are not uniform.Coders often wonder how to define realistic productivity benchmarks. Different facilities establish the responsibilities and expectations of their coding teams, so productivity standards are not uniform.