ICD-10-CM/PCS now has guidelines for reporting conditions that are present on admission (POA). As part of the 2011 guidelines updates, CMS and the National Center for Health Statistics added Appendix...
I’m always fascinated by new medical research and information about diseases I’ve never heard of. They also make great fodder for this blog. I recently came across an article on REM sleep behavior...
Our friends from the Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists came back from the desert with some minor maladies. Apparently everything that happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in...
Currently in ICD-9-CM, there are only a few ways to capture present, past, or exposure to tobacco smoke. In ICD-9-CM, we currently have the following codes: 305.1 (Tobacco use disorder) V15.82 (...
Late Wednesday night, CMS announced that due to inclement weather, it was canceling the national provider conference call on HIPAA 5010, New Error Handling Transactions, which was scheduled to take...
October 1, 2013 is not the only deadline to be concerned with. If you submit electronic claims, you should complete internal testing with Version 5010 by January 1, 2011 so that you are prepared for...
Richard came in to see Dr. Guts complaining of severe abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and blood in his stool. Dr. Guts sends Richard for a battery of tests and discovers Richard suffers from a...
It's time for another pop quiz everyone! Let's use the ICD-10 tools we have at our disposal to try to crosswalk an ICD-9-CM code we use today to ICD-10-CM. ICD-9-CM code 512.0 (Spontaneous tension...
Based on the prevalence of commercials for acid reflux remedies, you’d think the entire country suffered from some sort of digestive disease. Maybe some of it comes from coders who are sick to their...
You have one more chance to participate in CMS’ end-to-end testing. The agency is currently looking for approximately 850 volunteers for the June 1-5 testing week. You can volunteer on your MAC’s...
