After years of consideration, CMS introduced extensive changes for modifier -59 (distinct procedural service) for 2015. Jugna Shah, MPH , explains these changes and when to use the new modifiers instead of modifier -59.
In a concerted effort to move healthcare payments to a system of "quality over quantity," CMS finalized policies that greatly expanded packaging for outpatient providers in the 2015 OPPS final rule. It also introduced complexity adjustments with comprehensive APCs (C-APCs).
Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedures are not the only ones coders will report using the root operation Bypass in ICD-10-PCS. Surgeons can create bypasses in other vessels of the body.
The ICD-10 implementation delay mandated by Congress this spring granted providers an extra year to prepare their coders and clinicians on the requirements of the new code set, but a recent survey has found some organizations heading in the wrong direction.
The majority of providers either stopped or slowed their ICD-10 preparations as a result of the latest implementation delay, but now providers have less than a year to become ready. CMS' Denesecia Green and Stacey Shagena offer advice on how providers can create an action plan to be ready by October 1, 2015—even if they haven't started yet.
Malnutrition is at its most basic level any nutritional imbalance. While it can be overnutrition, such as being overweight, obese, or morbidly obese, providers more commonly equate malnutrition with undernutrition, which is a continuum of inadequate intake, impaired absorption, altered transport, and altered nutrient utilization.
Even before ICD-10-CM was delayed until October 1, 2015, the quality of physician documentation to accommodate the new code set was a top concern for the healthcare industry.
CMS officially declared October 1, 2015, the new ICD-10 implementation date with the publication of a final rule, "Administrative Simplification: Change to the Compliance Date for the ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS Medical Data Code Sets," in the August 4 Federal Register .
Changes to the codes for musculoskeletal injuries goes beyond just increased codes for fractures. Find out how to code for sprains, strains, and disclocations in ICD-10-CM.
