A great storyteller understands that it’s all in the details. Perhaps it’s the back-story about a particular character or maybe it’s the little facts peppered throughout the tale, but it’s the details that convey the essence of the story. Likewise, some ICD-10-CM injury codes tell only part of a patient’s story. Lolita M. Jones, RHIA, CCS, and Donna M. Smith, RHIA, discuss how to report associated injuries and complications and also talk about why it’s so important to have a firm grasp on anatomy and physiology to ensure accurate coding.
Big news regarding the ICD-10-CM/PCS implementation timeline came out this morning during the American Medical Association (AMA) National Advocacy Conference in Washington, DC. Per CMS acting...
Inpatient coders currently can default to “not otherwise specified” (NOS) codes in ICD-9-CM Volume 3, but they won’t have that option as frequently in ICD-10-PCS. Coders report NOS codes when the...
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. At least Shakespeare says so. And that has what to do with coding in ICD-10-PCS you might ask. Well, you won’t find...
Outpatient coders are getting very familiar with combination codes when it comes to procedure coding, thanks to the AMA. Coders have been seeing more and more combined procedures in recent years in...
CMS added modifier -PD (diagnostic or related nondiagnostic item or service provided in a wholly owned or wholly operated entity to a patient who is admitted as an inpatient within three days or one day) to the Integrates Outpatient Code Editor (I/OCE) as part of the January updates detailed in Transmittal 2370 .
To code chemotherapy properly, coders need to understand what the clinical staff actually does for the patient via complete and accurate documentation. Chemotherapy and other injections and infusion present some unique challenges in part because clinical staff members are focused more on patient care than documentation requirements. Paula Lewis-Patterson, BSN, MSN, NEA-BC, and Jugna Shah, MPH, discuss the challenges of compiling complete chemotherapy documentation.
With the increased specificity required for ICD-10-CM coding, coders need a solid foundation in anatomy and physiology. To help coders prepare for the upcoming transition, JustCoding will provide an occasional article about specific anatomical locations and body parts as part of a larger series for ICD-10-CM preparation. In this month’s column, Shelley C. Safian, PhD, CCS-P, CPC-H, CPC-I, addresses the anatomy of the respiratory system.
QUESTION: We are a nondialysis facility, so when a patient is in observation for some other reason and must undergo hemodialysis, we report code G0257 (unscheduled or emergency dialysis treatments for an ESRD [end stage renal disease] patient in a hospital outpatient department that is not certified as an ESRD facility). But how should we code peritoneal dialysis when a patient is in observation or inpatient for other problems? I have received three different codes from different coders. I cannot really find any information on this anywhere.
When the American Medical Association (AMA) made it clear back in November that it wanted to delay the transition to ICD-10-CM/PCS, the first thing that came to mind was ... are you kidding me?...
Here are the top 10 reasons you should attend the JustCoding Virtual Summit: ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS February 29-March2. 10. October 1, 2013 is getting closer all the time Remember when CMS...
The January issue of Medicare Quarterly Provider Compliance Newsletter (volume 2, issue 2) addressed a number of recovery audit findings, including ambulance services separately payable during an inpatient hospital stay, diseases and disorders of the circulatory system, and minor surgery and other treatment billed as inpatient stay.
Self-administered drugs present a significant issue for coders, especially when considering how they may or may not be covered by Medicare Part B. In many instances, payers may consider a drug to be self-administered in some circumstances but not in others. As a result, coders must pay special attention to how these drugs are used within their setting.
Coders can find the largest number of new codes in the pathology and laboratory section of the 2012 CPT® Manual . The AMA added a total of 103 new codes, 101 of which denote Tier 1 and Tier 2 molecular path-ology procedures.
A coder can be misled when coding directly from an encoder, and heavy dependence on one can ultimately affect a coder’s skill set. Glenn Krauss, BBA, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPUR, FCS, PCS, C-CDIS, CCDS, explains that a critical limitation of encoders is that they cannot physically reason. This inability to deduce often contributes to inaccurate ICD-9-CM code assignment at the expense of clinical accuracy in the reporting of disease processes, not to mention potential reimbursement and measures of continuity of care post-hospitalization.
