Recovery Auditors have identified improper payments for claims involving end-stage renal disease (ESRD) services when more than one monthly service was billed per month and per-day codes exceeded the limit, according to the latest Medicare Quarterly Provider Compliance Newsletter .
Lori-Lynne A. Webb, CPC, CCS-P, CCP, CHDA, COBGC , writes about how to reduce queries by highlighting the information providers need to document for the most common OB ultrasound procedures.
Q: I have a question regarding CPT ® code 99184 (initiation of selective head or total body hypothermia in critically ill neonate, includes appropriate patient selection by review of clinical, imaging, and laboratory data, confirmation of esophageal temperature probe location, evaluation of amplitude EEG, supervision of controlled hypothermia, and assessment of patient tolerance of cooling) in the 2015 CPT Manual . What if the neonate is in the hospital for several weeks? The total body hypothermia is performed, the baby improves, but remains in the hospital and then needs the procedure performed a second time. Can we report it a second time if several weeks have elapsed?
The added detail found in ICD-10-CM may require coders to brush up on their anatomy and physiology training to select the most appropriate codes. Shelley C. Safian, PhD, CCS-P, CPC-H, CPC-I , reviews the anatomy of the male reproductive system and how coding for it will change in ICD-10-CM.
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, two turtle doves. Hmm, you think he would have learned his lesson with the partridge. Apparently not. And apparently Mr. Whiskers isn’t hungry...
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree. How…nice. Fortunately, the tree is way too big for the living room (it also clashes with my real Christmas tree)...
Usually in this blog, I talk about ICD-10 implementation and coding from the coder or HIM point of view. But I wanted to share some suggestions from James S. Kennedy, MD, CCS, CDIP, president of...
Poor Finn. He’s heading for his first birthday, but he may not be in a partying mood. After Finn developed his fifth ear infection in six months, mom Melissa decided it was time to put tubes in his...
I’m almost afraid to read my email these days. It seems like every day brings a new group trying to delay ICD-10 or another piece of legislation that ICD-10 opponents might slip delay language into...
ICD-10-CM introduces new requirements for coding skull fractures and brain injuries. Kim Carr, RHIT, CCS, CDIP, CCDS , and Kristi Stanton, RHIT, CCS, CPC, CIRCC, explore how coding for these conditions changes in ICD-10-CM.
The advantages offered by ICD-10-CM can directly affect providers, patients, and third-parties alike. Shelley C. Safian, PhD, CCS-P, CPC-H, CPC-I, AHIMA-approved ICD-10-CM/PCS trainer, discusses this history of ICD-10-CM and the improvements the new system offers.
Q: We’ve heard that ICD-10-CM does not include a diagnosis code to show that a laparoscopic procedure was converted to an open procedure. How will we report this in ICD-10?
ICD-10-PCS will change the way coders count sites for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedures. Shannon E. McCall, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CPC-I, CEMC, CCDS, and Nena Scott, MS, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, explain how coders will report CABG in ICD-10-PCS.
With quarterly code updates and other regulatory changes from CMS throughout the year, the chargemaster coordinator has to constantly monitor the healthcare landscape, but the final few months of the year remain the most challenging.
In this issue, we explain how to code CABG in ICD-10-PCS, review sepsis clinical criteria and ICD-9 coding guidelines, and review the changes to physician certification finalized in the OPPS final rule. Robert S. Gold, MD, highlights areas of concern for respiratory conditions in ICD-10-CM.
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.
