Learn about documentation and principal diagnoses, coders and EHR implementation, clarifying IBS and IBD for accurate code assignment, and ICD-10 fracture codes.
QUESTION: I'd like to address our coders' questions on how to code poisoning due to bath salts. Internet research has led me to many different options: codes 977.8 (other specified drug/medicinal), 970.89 (other CNS stimulant), 969.70 (psychostimulant, unspecified), among others. What would you suggest? There don't seem to be any guidelines out there and the coding for this seems to be all over the place.
The sheer number and detail of new fracture codes in ICD-10-CM is daunting, leaving many coders to wonder-and worry-about whether physicians will document the information they need to assign the correct codes.
A lack of funding shouldn't prevent you from getting creative in your morale-boosting celebrations, according to Rose T. Dunn, MBA, RHIA, CPA, FACHE, FHFMA, and Nicolet Araujo, RHIA. So when your staff members are around, this time of year can be a great time to boost their morale with summer outings and special staff recognition for jobs well done.
HCPCS code C1882 (cardioverter-defibrillator, other than single or dual chamber [implantable]) will once again meet the criteria to override the device-to-procedure edit for CPT® code 33249 (insertion or replacement of permanent pacing cardioverter-defibrillator system with transvenous lead[s], single or dual chamber).
Coders can run into two types of edits that may require them to append modifier -59 (distinct procedural service) to override: NCCI edits and medically unlikely edits (MUE).
What happens in Vegas might stay in Vegas, but when things go wrong in Atlantic City, people end up at Fix ‘Em Up Clinic. Today, we have several bachelor party victims who made the clinic their first...
Why hello there, Mr. Coyote. Long time, no see. Are you still chasing that roadrunner? You are? Well, you are certainly persistent, I’ll give you that. So what brings you into the Acme Clinic today?...
The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) House of Delegates has joined the American Medical Association’s (AMA) crusade to crush ICD-10 implementation. Back in November 2011, the AMA’s House of...
The National Center for Health Statistics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and CMS have posted updated files for ICD-10-CM for 2013.
Many coders can quickly quote the code for diabetes mellitus in ICD-9-CM (code 250.00) when the physician only documents diabetes mellitus. But what will coders need in the documentation for diabetes mellitus in ICD-10-CM? Shannon E. McCall, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CPC-I, CEMC, CCDS, Jill Young, CPC, CEDC, CIMC, and Donna Smith, RHIT, dissect the differences in coding for diabetes mellitus in ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM.
Cross-training coders has definitive short-term advantages, such as enhancing staff coverage during holidays and vacations and increasing the department's ability to handle periods of fluctuation in certain bill types. But coding managers might not realize that these benefits can also help hospitals with long-term preparation for ICD-10. Angie Comfort, RHIT, CCS, and Rose T. Dunn, MBA, RHIA, CPA, FACHE, explain the benefits of cross training coders as ICD-10 approaches.
Over the weekend, Matt decided to grill up dinner, which sounds at first like a good idea. He started with chicken, then added some vegetables, unfortunately including some cherry tomatoes. While he...
Epilepsy affects nearly 3 million Americans and 50 million people worldwide, so you may see some of these patients come through your facility or practice. In ICD-9-CM, you find many of the epilepsy...
The National Center for Health Statistics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and CMS have posted some updated files for ICD-10-CM for 2013. The following files are available for...
I grew up in Western Pennsylvania coal country, where coal mines at one time were prevalent and back in the day, you could smell the hydrogen sulphide (at least according to my mother). A lot of the...
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.
QUESTION: A patient is admitted with pneumonia and atrial fibrillation and both are present on admission. The patient receives antibiotics for the pneumonia and a pacemaker during the stay, but undergoes no other procedures. Does the procedure automatically make ICD-9-CM code 427.31 for the atrial fibrillation the principal diagnosis?
