Coder productivity was a hot topic of conversation during the AHIMA pre-conference in Atlanta October 26-27. We all know coders will be less productive initially after the transition to ICD-10. The...
Greetings from Atlanta! I spent the weekend collecting all kinds of tips and information about ICD-10 during the AHIMA Conference pre-conference sessions. These are just a few of the best tidbits...
Jacob comes into the Fix ‘Em Up Clinic with a hairy problem—namely too much hair. He’s covered in it, head to tail, I mean toe. He also reports a strange urge to howl at the moon and a severe allergy...
Sitting hunched in front of a computer can be a bad thing. Aside from missing all of the splendid fall foliage, you could also be straining your neck muscles and causing yourself plenty of pain. So...
Mr. Jack O. Lantern is here at Stich ‘Em Up Hospital to have his guts removed. Dr. Carver begins by removing a section of Jack’s skull, then begins to remove Jack’s guts. How would we code this...
Welcome to the Middle Ages, when your chance of dying from the plague is around 50-50. The bubonic plague likely wiped out 75-200 million people in Europe in the 14 th century alone. For the...
My brain is fried. Keeping up with all of the mandates and changes in healthcare is exhausting. So is learning the new ICD-10 codes. Maybe I’m just tired because it’s Wednesday. What does ICD-10-CM...
Although ICD-10-CM resolves some problematic areas of coding, it isn't a panacea. Robert S. Gold, MD reviews how respiratory insufficiency will continue to challenge coders.
People are creatures of habit. Some of them are good, some not so good. Coders, too, are creatures of habit. We know certain codes without having to look them up. (Anyone know the code for...
By this time next year, we will be using ICD-10 codes. Where are you in your transition? What have you accomplished? What’s left on the to-do list? Here’s a better question: will you be ready? It...
ICD codes are the ultimate source of information for the healthcare industry. Coders in every setting-inpatient, outpatient, and physician services-report the exact same ICD codes to describe a patient's condition.
Each physician may have his or her own way of describing a stroke. However, consistent terminology leads to accurate data to describe the care provided as well as the mortality, length of stay, and cost statistics.
CMS announced that it is postponing the eHealth Provider Webinar on ICD-10 compliance that was scheduled for October 1. CMS has not announced a reschedule date.
My head is going to explode. This is seriously epic, end of the world pain. It’s a 20 on the pain scale. It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t also feel like I was going to throw up. And the light is...
Ears are moving up in ICD-10-CM. In ICD-9-CM, they have to share space with the eyes. In ICD-10-CM, they get their own chapter. They also get a lot more codes. Fortunately, many of those additional...
Coding may not be brain surgery, but understanding brain anatomy can greatly help coders when reporting head injuries or disorders. Shelley C. Safian, PhD, CCS-P, CPC-H, CPC-I, reviews some major components of brain anatomy and the impact of ICD-10-CM on coding for some common diagnoses.
Last week, we looked at some strange causes of death in the ancient world and their associated ICD-10-CM codes. Let’s fast-forward to some odd Dark Ages deaths and see if we can code them. Some...
Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back. (Kudos if you know I appropriated that from the movie Gladiator .) History is full of weird circumstances and odd injuries that lead to death...
CMS has been releasing ICD-10 National Coverage Determination (NCD) “omnibus” transmittals since September 2012, which gives providers some information about CMS’ coverage policies moving forward...
