Editor’s note: For purposes of today’s example, we are ignoring medical necessity. We’re going to say Sidney is an inpatient. In the real world, he would need to meet the criteria for an inpatient...
Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow. Maybe that worked for Aaron Burr, but it doesn’t really work for the ICD-10 transition. I’ve seen some disturbing numbers about ICD-10 preparation...
Anytown’s baseball team just completed its home opener and while the team came away with a win, not all of the players made it through the game. Eddie the outfielder suffered a painful run-in with...
Will you be ready for ICD-10? The ICD-10 implementation date draws closer by the day and CMS wants to help you make sure you’re ready. CMS is hosting a national provider call to discuss ICD-10...
CMS Transmittal 1199 updates the national coverage determination (NCD) hard-coded shared system edits to include ICD-10-CM codes. CMS included 30 spreadsheets with the transmittal. The spreadsheets...
When last we left our intrepid hero, Luke Skywalker, he was well on the road to recovery after being bashed by a wampa and spending the night in the belly of a Tauntaun. Now he’s off to the Dagobah...
The first series of codes in both the ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM manuals are infectious and parasitic diseases. What a fun (cough, cough) place to start. The very first disease listed in the ICD-9-CM...
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...
There’s a bigger picture to the preparation for ICD-10 than just coding productivity. The bigger picture includes doing the process improvement now that is needed to break down all barriers to...
Many musculoskeletal conditions are a result of previous injury or trauma to a site, or are recurrent conditions. If a patient presents with a bone, joint or muscle conditions that are the result of...
Last week in my blog I referred to the Gustilo-Anderson open fracture classification. Since that time I have had several readers asking for more information. With the ICD-10-CM coding of fractures...
CMS recently announced it will rename the ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee the ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance Committee effective with the March 2014 committee meeting. This...
Documentation opportunities abound in ICD-10-CM Chapter 13 (musculoskeletal system). The official ICD-10-CM Coding Guidelines provide us with plenty of instructions. The guidelines include...
Recently, I attended a large ICD-10 planning meeting. Attendees came from four different states and covered nine hospitals. There were coding, clinical documentation improvement (CDI), and revenue...
It’s Valentine’s Day and love is in the air. So are Cupid’s arrows. Does ICD-10-CM include a code for assault by Cupid’s arrow? Not quite. The arrow itself would leave a puncture wound (probably), so...
The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) is conducting an ICD-10 readiness survey through February 20. WEDI and CMS will use the survey results to measure the: Progress of ICD-10...
So how would you like to explain this accident to your physician? Doctor, I was crossing the street wearing ice skates and was hit by a bicycle. Believe it or not, there’s an ICD-10-CM code for just...
It’s Groundhog Day…over and over in the comedy Groundhog Day. Poor Phil Connors (played by Bill Murray) does his best to escape the never-ending cycle by killing himself in some creative ways. It’s...
We’re all thinking about documentation specificity needs in ICD-10-CM/PCS as we prepare of the October 1, 2014 compliance deadline. Increased communication between physicians and coders is paramount...
Underdosing is a new coding concept in ICD-10-CM and it has its own column in the table of drugs. Underdosing can be accidental (patient forgot to take the medication) or intentional (patient chose...
