The switch to ICD-10-CM will change more than just your code choices. It will also change how physician offices practice medicine. All of your offices' policies will have to be revised to fit ICD-10-...
So, by now you know ICD-10-CM codes contain more specificity than many ICD-9-CM codes. After all, we’re going from 13,000 codes to 68,000 codes. So where will that increased specificity show up? One...
Although I'm sure these great contributors to the field of medicine will live on in many other publications, ICD-10-PCS coding manuals will no longer include eponyms. So you not only need to be...
OK, so maybe your ICD-10-PCS (Draft) Manual doesn't rank up there with your most memorable reads, however, you can't deny that it's a page-turner! Sometimes, it may seem like you can't find the...
Mark your calendars because on August 13, you'll have the opportunity to register for the September 15-16 ICD-9-CM Coordination & Maintenance Committee Meeting in Washington, DC. As required by...
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...
The network of relationships between the ICD-9-CM and the ICD-10-CM code sets is named the General Equivalence Mappings (GEMs) . It’s like trying to translate from one language to another. Sometimes...
Many of the changes to the 2010 ICD-9-CM codes were additions to the external causes of injury and poisoning E codes (E800–E999). Activity codes were added to give context as to what the person was...
If you've been wondering whether the American Hospital Association (AHA) plans to convert guidance it has published in Coding Clinic over the years to include ICD-10 codes, the answer is no. "I am...
The Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists (ACDIS) recently submitted a comment to CMS explaining its position against the proposed code freeze. ACDIS' comment stated the...
I was reading a recent Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) letter to CMS commenting on the 2011 inpatient prospective payment system proposed (IPPS) rule, specifically their recommendations...
On June 23, CMS issued MLN Matters Special Edition article #SE1019 , which is intended to provide healthcare entities more information about the implementation of ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS. In...
As we continue our journey toward ICD-10 implementation, certified coders will need to show their proficiency in the new coding system. For holders of an American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC...
Can you believe it has been about 18 months since the Department of Health and Human Services announced in the Federal Register that ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS would be implemented on October 1, 2013?...
At the recent American Health Information Management Association ICD-10 Summit in Washington, DC, several attendees were heard discussing the 3-day rule (sometimes called the 72-hour rule),...
In ICD-9-CM, you can find the burn codes in the range of codes 940-949. If you were to try to find a code due to a corrosive burn, the Alphabetic index would direct you back to the main term "burn."...
I have noticed an influx of new information on various organizations' websites related to ICD-10. If you're not a regular visitor to these websites, now is a good time to poke around and do some...
This month’s training tool in HCPro's Medical Records Briefing newsletter was a series of quiz questions about surgical root operations to prepare for ICD-10-PCS. Have some fun with your coding peers...
Aside from emphasizing that October 1, 2013, will be the date that everyone will begin to use ICD-10, Pat Brooks, senior technical advisor at CMS, explained the following during the March 23 ICD-10...
ICD-10-PCS is drastically different from the ICD-9-CM Volume 3 procedure codes. Just looking at the physical appearance, you’ll see that the procedure codes in ICD-9-CM have a maximum of four digits...
