The AMA and Republican congressmen have been working together for quite a w hile to try and kill ICD-10, but their latest attempt shows not only desperation, but a fundamental misunderstanding of how...
We’re very excited to add a new voice to the ICD-10 Trainer blog family. I’ve (cough, cough) volunteered Steve Andrews to write for the blog. The joys of being the boss. Steve joined HCPro and...
One of the best parts of attending the Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists’ (ACDIS) 8 th Annual Conference is talking with others in the field to find out what documentation...
CMS declared its second week of ICD-10 end-to-end testing , held from April 27 through May 1, a success. Approximately 875 participants submitted 23,138 test claims during the week and CMS accepted...
Are you currently dual coding to prepare for ICD-10 implementation? Or are you double coding? Do you know the difference? When you dual code, you assign both ICD-9-CM and ICD-10 codes to the same...
Ah, summer—sand, surf, and…ICD-10 education? That’s right. Summer, especially this summer, is no time to stop your ICD-10 education. We have 125 days left until ICD-10 implementation, so we need to...
Our friends at the Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists (ACDIS) held their 8 th annual conference last week. Aside from a few mishaps involving their crack team of CDI...
This sample case study is an excerpt from HCPro’s ICD-10 Competency Assessment for Coders , which is a resource included in the ICD-10 Training Toolkit . The toolkit provides the building blocks for your training programs for physicians as well as coding, HIM, documentation, and billing professionals in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
ICD-10-CM codes for reporting dementia diagnoses include new specificity. Caren J. Swartz, CPC, CPMA, CPC-I, CIC, and Betty Hovey, CPC, CPC-H, CPB, CPMA, CPC-I, CPCD, examine what terms and details providers might need to add to their documentation.
Clinical documentation improvement (CDI) specialists are a passionate group and they love ACDIS director Brian Murphy. They love him so much, in fact, that his appearance in the exhibit hall at the...
Shannon E. McCall, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CPC-I, CEMC, CCDS, and Cheryl Ericson, MS, RN, CCDS, CDIP, compare and contrast coding for poisonings and adverse effects in ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM and explain the new concept of underdosing.
Great tip from 3M's Donna Smith, the Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists conference general session speaker. "We're collecting data for the future. It is a little...
Super CDI specialist Cheryl loves Mexican food. Really, she loves it a little too much. She decided to celebrate the end of her teaching duties at the Association of Clinical Documentation...
Our friends at the Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists (ACDIS) and 1,400 or so of their closest friends have descended on San Antonio for their annual conference. Things did...
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” - Albert Einstein The closer we get to ICD-10 implementation, the more we see the same...
Congress is getting involved in the ICD-10 transition again with a new bill introduced into the House of Representatives May 12. The good news is H.R. 2247 , Increasing Clarity for Doctors by...
Coding Clinic won't be updating its ICD-9-CM guidance for ICD-10-CM, but that doesn't mean none of the previous answers will be applicable in the new code set. Nelly Leon-Chisen, RHIA, Shelley C. Safian, PhD, MAOM/HSM, CCS-P, CPC-H, CPC-I, and Anita Rapier, RHIT, CCS, review various tricky coding situations that can be resolved now, ahead of implementation.
Coding and guideline changes in ICD-10-CM for neurological conditions may require coders to learn new terms and look for additional information in documentation. Caren J. Swartz, CPC, CPMA, CPC-I, CIC, and Jennifer E. Avery, CCS, CPC-H, CPC, CPC-I, explain the changes for hemiplegia, hydrocephalus, and meningitis and how to find the proper code.
Our friends at the Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists are putting the final touches on their conference preparations. They have sent off the final shipment to San Antonio (...
We love surveys, especially about ICD-10. Seriously, how many ICD-10 surveys have you been asked to fill out in the past year alone? It’s very easy to look at survey results and think things look...
As coders have prepared for ICD-10-CM, they have raised questions about how to select the correct seventh character. Nelly Leon-Chisen, RHIA, and Jennifer E. Avery, CCS, CPC-H, CPC, CPC-I, AHIMA-approved ICD-10-CM/PCS trainer, offer tips for determining the correct seventh character.
If nothing else, Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, is consistent. He again introduced legislation to kill ICD-10. (The bill is H.R.2126 if you are interested.) Poe has tried this trick before. He introduced an...
In case getting allergic rhinitis from your dog wasn’t bad enough, a Colorado man contracted the plague from his pit bul l. And then he may have passed it on to another person. Person-to-person...
And the flowers bring pollen. Achoo! Allergies are a fact of life for millions of Americans—approximately 30% of adults and 40% of children suffer from allergies, according to the American College of...
Many coders rely on the AHA's Coding Clinic advice to resolve sticky situations with ICD-9-CM coding. However, AHA will not be transitioning its current guidance to ICD-10-CM. Instead, in January 2014, AHA began focusing solely on ICD-10-CM questions to help clear up confusion prior to implementation.
Our friends at the Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists hold their annual conference next month in San Antonio , Texas. And like everything in Texas, it’s going to be BIG ...
You learn something new every day. Today’s new fact: you can be a professional video game player. I’m not sure why that surprises me. After all, video games have come a long way from the Atari and...
Primary care providers see patients for a wide variety of conditions, meaning coders in those settings may have to learn many of the new concepts and terms in ICD-10-CM. Annie Boynton, BS, RHIT, CPCO, CCS, CPC, CCS-P, COC, CPC-P, CPC-I, and Rhonda Buckholtz, CPC, CPC-I, CPMA, CRC, CHPSE, CGSC, CENTC, COBGC, CPEDC, discuss three common conditions seen in these settings and what information coders will need to look for in documentation to code them in ICD-10-CM.
You may recall that Steve’s super streak at the Vegas craps table ended with a torn right ulnar collateral ligament. On the recommendation of his primary care physician, Steve consulted an orthopedic...
You know us and the staff at the Acme ED, Fix ‘Em Up Clinic, and the Stitch ‘EM Up Hospital. Now, we want to get to know a little bit about you, our readers. Please complete this short survey to tell...
I spent the weekend reading the 2016 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed rule. Not the most thrilling reading ever (government-ese should be classified as a foreign language). I did...
Last week, Steve spent some serious time at the craps table in Las Vegas. He was on a real roll with those dice, racking up a 14-hour winning streak. However, on that last throw, something went very...
The endless last-minute patches for the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) are almost history. Late last night, the Senate overwhelmingly passed H.R. 2, which repeals the SGR. The House overwhelmingly...
CMS is asking for some social media help in support of ICD-10. The agency is planning a social media rally to encourage the healthcare community to get ready for the ICD-10 transition. You can sign...
I’m always fascinated by new medical research and information about diseases I’ve never heard of. They also make great fodder for this blog. I recently came across an article on REM sleep behavior...
Fifteen-month-old Finn is back at the Fix ‘Em Up Clinic today to see Dr. Spock. Finn is currently suffering from a fever, reduced appetite, and sore throat, according to his mom Melissa. Finn just...
As we continue to move closer to ICD-10 implementation (still set for October 1, 2015), I keep finding more reasons why we need better documentation. I am not trying to pick on physicians (really),...
In ICD-10-CM, coders will use a seventh character, not an aftercare code, to identify follow-up treatment for an injury. Glenn Krauss, BBA, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPUR, FCS, PCS, CCDS, C-CDI, C-DAM, Kristi Pollard, RHIT, CCS, CPC, CIRCC, and Anita Rapier, RHIT, CCS, explain how aftercare coding will change in ICD-10-CM.
The seventh character in an ICD-10-CM code represents either the fetus (for pregnancy codes), or the encounter (for injuries and burns). Jennifer E. Avery, CCS, CPC-H, CPC, CPC-I, Gretchen Young-Charles, RHIA, and Nelly Leon-Chisen, RHIA, review guidelines for correct seventh character selection.
Ruth and Gary thought it would be great fun to give their nieces Amanda and Rachel some peeps for Easter. Amanda and Rachel thought they were getting marshmallow treats (so did their parents) so it...
No joke this time. We have six months left until ICD-10 implementation. That’s a good news/bad news proposition. The good news is that all of the hard work we’ve put into training and implementation...
Mental health disorders are common in the United States, with an estimated 19% of Americans 18 or older suffering from a diagnosable mental disorder, according to a 2012 survey from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
One of the great things about healthcare and medicine is you can always learn something new. Today’s odd but true condition is exploding head syndrome. (I love the Internet.) If you have ever...
Jeff went on vacation to Hawaii three weeks ago to enjoy some sun, sand, and surfing. He came back with some cool photos and a broken ankle. Apparently, the parking lot at the beach did him in even...
Poor Wendy. Shortly before Christmas, she stubbed her toe, really hard. However, no bruise appeared and her toe didn’t swell up, so she thought nothing of it. Three weeks later, she stretched her...
