I’m going to pick on our friends from the Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists for one more day because I’ve heard some really good stories about the doings in Las Vegas last...
Our friends from the Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists came back from the desert with some minor maladies. Apparently everything that happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in...
Coders are very familiar with the diagnosis codes they use frequently, but the look of those codes will change in ICD-10-CM. Betty Hovey, CPC, CPC-H, CPB, CPMA, CPC-I, CPCD , reviews common dermatology conditions and how they will be reported with the new code set.
We’re still waiting for CMS to release the interim final rule on the new ICD-10 implementation date, but we did get some news on the ICD-10 front this week. The Office of Budget and Management...
Today I will focus on the chronological transition to ICD-10 readiness. My intent is to dispel myths and compare real-world experience in the ICD-10 planning space with the commonly disseminated...
Our good friends at the Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists (ACDIS) have descended on Sin City for the seventh annual ACDIS conference. And while what happens in Vegas might...
One day after an apparent stealth announcement of the new ICD-10 compliance date, CMS confirmed October 1, 2015, as the new implementation date. According to a CMS statement: On April 1, 2014, the...
We may have a new ICD-10 implementation date…or maybe not. In the IPPS proposed rule , released April 30, CMS states on page 648, “The ICD-10-CM/PCS transition is scheduled to take place on October 1...
When Congress passed the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, it mandated at least a one-year delay in ICD-10 implementation. Members of the Briefings on Coding Compliance Strategies editorial board, who represent a wide range of industry stakeholders, offered their thoughts on two questions related to the delay.
At the time of this publication, the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 bill was recently passed. The status quo regarding physician reimbursement from Medicare has been maintained. So what? That system has been broken for 20 years. ICD-10 will be postponed for provider billing for another year. So what? Life will go on as it has for the past 36 years with ICD-9-CM. In other words, nothing has changed. We're good for another year. Pressure's off! ...Right?
The ears--more formally, the auditory system--have their own chapter in ICD-10-CM, no longer relegated to the end of the neurology codes. Codes in Chapter 8, Diseases of the Ear and Mastoid Process (H60-H95), are located between the chapters for the optical system and the circulatory system.
A diabetic patient is admitted with gangrene. The physician does not specifically link the diabetes and the gangrene, but also does not document any other potential cause of the gangrene. Should you code both conditions?
Congress needed just a week to throw a huge monkey wrench into the healthcare industry's plans for ICD-10 implementation. On March 26, House leadership introduced H.R. 4302, "Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014." By April 1, the bill had passed the Senate and been signed into law by President Obama.
During AHIMA’s two-day ICD-10-CM/PCS and Computer-Assisted Coding Summit April 22-23, AHIMA ran some real-time polls with attendees texting in their responses. The results of the polls provide some...
Some body parts just need a little reinforcement. Or maybe a little augmentation. Use root operation Supplement (third character U) to report procedures that involve putting in or on biological or...
Rose Dunn, MBA, RHIA, CPA, CHPS, FACHE, FAHIMA, chief operating officer of First Class Solutions, started the second day of the AHIMA ICD-10 and CAC Summit with a rundown of ways HIM professionals...
The first day of AHIMA’s ICD-10 and CAC Summit is in the books and although attendance is down this year, the speakers have provided some good food for thought. Here are some briefs highlights from...
Don’t blame the AMA for the most recent ICD-10 delay, says Steven Stack, MD , immediate past chair of the AMA Board of Trustees. Stack gave the keynote address at the AHIMA ICD-10 and CAC Summit in...
Coding for pressure ulcers in ICD-10-CM requires precise documentation of the ulcer’s location, which really shouldn’t surprise anyone. ICD-10-CM includes increased specificity for almost every...
Here comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail—and right into a gopher hole. Stupid rodents. Poor Peter limped his way into the Fix ‘Em Up Clinic to see Dr. Hop A. Long for an initial...
Don’t look now, but mumps are making a comeback . How do we code mumps in ICD-10-CM? Pretty much the same way we code them in ICD-9-CM. The codes just look a little different. In ICD-10-CM, we can...
Plenty of uncertainty surrounds the ICD-10 implementation delay, but healthcare organizations shouldn’t put the brakes on their plans. Cheryl Ericson, MS, RN, CCDS, CDIP , William E. Haik, MD, FCCP, CDIP , Monica Lenahan, CCS , Shannon E. McCall, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CPC-I, CEMC, CCDS, and James S. Kennedy, MD, CCS, CDIP, offer thoughts on how to keep moving forward with ICD-10.
On the surface, you may think that transitioning from ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM for reporting schizophrenia, schizoid personality, and bipolar disorders is a dramatic change. However, Shelley C. Safian, PhD, CCS-P, CPC-H, CPC-I, reveals that with some minor adjustments, the change can be a smooth one.
Sometimes a physician just needs to take a look around a body part and see what’s what. If the physician’s sole objective is to examine a body part, either visually or manually, report the procedure...
We know we're facing at least a one-year delay in ICD-10 implementation. What you with that time? will directly affect how prepared you are for the eventual ICD-10 implementation. Here are some...
What a wild 12 days. On March 25, we were all preparing for the six-month-to-implementation milestone April 1. Some people were looking forward to that milestone more than others, but we had a plan...
If you code for pregnant patients and newborns, you may occasionally wonder which record to code a condition on. Is it something you code for the mother or for her offspring? ICD-10-CM divides the...
Lori-Lynne A. Webb, CPC, CCS-P, CCP, CHDA, COBGC, explains how reporting multiple gestations will change in ICD-10-CM, including greatly expanded specificity and replacements for V codes from ICD-9-CM.
Coding Clinic's Third and Fourth Quarter 2013 issues focus considerable attention on ICD-10-PCS procedure coding. On p. 18, Coding Clinic Third Quarter 2013 states that the coding of a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) depends on the end placement of the PICC line?that is, where the device ends up.
Editor's note: 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, we will provide an occasional article about specific anatomical locations and body parts as part of a larger series for ICD-10-CM preparation. This month's column addresses the anatomy of the thigh.
The Senate passed HR 4302 designed to patch the Sustainable Growth Rate that included a provision to delay ICD-10 implementation until at least October 1, 2015. The bill, approved by the House in a...
The fate of the October 1, 2014 ICD-10 implementation date will remain in limbo until Monday. The House of Representatives passed HR 4302 Thursday as a one-year fix to the Sustainable Growth Rate (...
The House of Representatives passed HR 4302 today using a controversial surprise voice vote, bringing another ICD-10 delay closer to reality. HR 4302 focuses on patching the Sustainable Growth Rate (...
CMS may be committed to an ICD-10 implementation date of October 1, 2014, but Congress may think otherwise. House of Representatives bill H.R. 4015 is designed to patch the Sustainable Growth Rate...
ICD-10-CM provides many more combination codes for drug- and alcohol-related diagnoses than ICD-9-CM. Shelley C. Safian, PhD, CCS-P, CPC-H, CPC-I, explains how this could actually result in less work for coders.
Some of the most significant changes in cardiovascular coding in ICD-10-CM involve coding for myocardial infarctions (MI). Laura Legg, RHIT, CCS , and Shannon E. McCall, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CPC-I, CEMC, CCDS, review new guidelines and specificity involved in ICD-10-CM MI coding.
Even though ICD-10-CM respiratory changes are relatively minor, coders will still have to learn the new guidelines and review anatomy and physiology in order to report them accurately. Tara L. Bell, RN, MSN, CCM, AHIMA-approved ICD-10-CM/PCS trainer, and Shelley C. Safian, PhD, MAOM/HSM, CCS-P, CPC-H, CPC-I, CHA, AHIMA-approved ICD-10-CM/PCS trainer, highlight the changes and new guidelines.
The codes for complications of pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium appear in Chapter 11 in ICD-9-CM. They move to Chapter 15 in ICD-10-CM. But you will find some more significant changes than...
Holidays are always interesting times here at the Fix ‘Em Up Clinic. We get to see some of the most interesting cases. First up for St. Patrick’s Day is Sean, who at 8 years old thought it would be...
Is this a dagger I see before me? Why, yes, Caesar, that is a dagger aimed at your heart. And your head and just about everywhere else. Servilius Casca got in the first shot, hitting Caesar in the...
In ICD-9-CM, we have one base code for gestational diabetes: 648.8x (abnormal glucose tolerance). We need a fifth digit to specify the episode of care: 0, unspecified as to episode of care or not...
James S. Kennedy, MD, CCS, discusses the increased clinical specificity required for coders to report strokes and transient ischemic attacks in ICD-10.
Not surprisingly, coders will have many more options to report how a patient was injured in ICD-10-CM. Betty Hovey, CPC, CPC-H, CPB, CPMA, CPC-I, CPCD , and Shannon E. McCall, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CPC-I, CEMC, CCDS , explain how the codes differ from ICD-9-CM E codes, when to report them, and why coders should not be too worried about the transition.
The auditory system has its own code category in ICD-10-CM because of the number of new codes and specificity available. Shelley C. Safian, PhD, CCS-P, CPC-H, CPC-I , reviews ear anatomy and how to report newly introduced diseases and conditions.
Inpatient coders are used to being able to code conditions documented as possible, probable, suspected, or rule out, as if they were in fact confirmed. Outpatient coders can’t do that. They need a...
You all know that I have been unhappy with some code definitions in ICD-9 and have ucceeded in getting some changes made in ICD-9 and ICD-10-CM code sets.
Coders are aware that ICD-10-CM will allow much more specificity than ICD-9-CM, and that is very evident in the section covering injuries to the wrist, hand, and fingers (S60–S69).
Brush up on your knowledge of cardiovascular system anatomy as you learn how to code cardiovascular diseases in ICD-10-CM during the live, 90-minute webcast Reduce the Fear of ICD-10-CM...
