James S. Kennedy, MD, CCS, CDIP, says that since the clinical intent and language of physicians does not translate into the administrative language of ICD-10-CM, understanding and embracing both their clinical foundations is essential to accurately measure outcomes and ensure coding compliance.
Rose T. Dunn, MBA, RHIA, CPA, FACHE, FHFMA, CHPS , writes about how one of the many coder obligations is to report noncompliant activities and provides information on how to do this anonymously. Note: To access this free article, make sure you first register here if you do not have a paid subscription. Once you have set up your free registration, you can log in and access this article by clicking here.
Q: I manage an inpatient coding department, and I am considering having them cross-trained. Are all coders usually cross-trained? And where would be the best place to train my staff?
A clinical documentation improvement (CDI) team can rapidly lead to quality improvements, according to a recent survey conducted by Black Book Market Research.
Shannon Newell, RHIA, CCS, explains that pneumonia discharges impact hospital payments under the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program, as well as the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program, and conveys what CDI teams can do to help.
Late in 2016, CMS finalized three bundled payment models focusing on cardiac care and another for orthopedic care, while also updating aspects of the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) Model introduced in April 2016.
Many coders may know that the human body contains 206 bones, but they may not realize that more than 10% of them are in the cranium. In addition to reviewing skull anatomy, examine common ICD-10-CM codes for skull conditions.
The 2017 CPT update didn’t include a huge amount of changes, but new codes have replaced the previous ones for dialysis circuit coding. Stacie L. Buck, RHIA, CCS-P, CIRCC, RCC, reviews the new codes and what services are included in each.
Complex chronic care management services can be challenging to accurately tabulate and report. Lori-Lynne A. Webb, CPC, CCS-P, CCP, CHDA, COBGC, CDIP, writes about how billers and coders can work with providers to report them accurately.
