Q: If the physician documents “concerning for,” “considering,” “cannot be ruled out,” or “cannot be excluded” for a diagnosis, is that considered an uncertain diagnosis? Can those terms be coded if the patient is being worked up? Are the terms “concerning for” and “considering” equal to the uncertain diagnosis terms “yet to be ruled out”?
A 12-year-old male developed umbilical discomfort Monday and didn't eat much dinner. On Tuesday, he started vomiting at school and the pain shifted to his right lower quadrant. His parents brought him to the ED, where his vital signs showed:
Charging for inpatient ancillary procedures and supplies has always been confusing. "CMS provides very little guidance ... Its theory is that it's up to the provider to figure it out," says Kimberly Anderwood Hoy, JC, CPC, director of Medicare and compliance at HCPro, Inc., in Danvers, Mass.
The digestion process is complex and there’s a lot that can go wrong. Thankfully, Robert S. Gold, MD, unravels the topic of mechanical and paralytic ileuses in this week’s article.
Q: A patient has unintentionally failed to take a prescribed dosage of insulin due to his Alzheimer’s dementia (age-related debility), and is admitted for initial care with inadequately controlled Type 1 diabetes mellitus. Which ICD-10-CM code(s) should we assign?