CMS released the fiscal year (FY) 2020 IPPS final rule on August 2 with updates to payment rates and wage index values, changes to CC/MCC designations, and revisions to various MS-DRGs. Policy updates affect approximately 3,300 acute care hospitals and apply to discharges beginning October 1.
Q: A diabetic patient is diagnosed with a gangrenous decubitus ulcer of the left heel and admitted to the hospital for treatment. If the provider documents an association between diabetes and the decubitus ulcer, which condition should be sequenced as the principal diagnosis?
While it is essential to receive continuing education on ICD-10-CM/PCS code selection, it is also important to stay current with industry news. Joe Rivet, JD, CCS-P, CPC, CEMC, CHC, CCEP, CHRC, CHPC, CICA, CPMA, CAC, CACO , reviews inpatient reporting and guideline updates for fiscal year 2020. Note : To access this free article, make sure you first register here if you do not have a paid subscription.
Allen Frady, RN, BSN, CCDS, CCS, CRC , reviews the answers to commonly asked questions pertaining to sepsis documentation to help coders and CDI specialists ensure accurate reporting of this condition.
We have come a long way in our understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but still have a lot to learn about the condition’s prevalence and impact.
Sepsis is a potentially fatal condition that affects nearly 1.7 million adults in America each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nearly 270,000 Americans die each year from sepsis-related complications.
Behavioral health is a highly specialized area of coding that many coders and billers are unfamiliar with. There are hundreds of ICD-10-CM codes for mental disorders with unique characters to specify symptoms and complications.
When you work in the CDI program of a medical facility, you are continually thinking of ways to elicit improved documentation from the medical staff. You also spend a fair amount of time lamenting why some physicians or service lines seem to ignore all educational efforts regarding the importance of explicit and accurate documentation. “If it is important to us,” you might say, “why is it not to them?”
The American Hospital Association (AHA) released Coding Clinic, Second Quarter 2019, just in time for summer vacation. If Coding Clinic didn’t make your summer must-read list, then be sure to review this article, which summarizes coding updates discussed in the quarterly newsletter and their impact on severity and DRG assignment
