Not all of the ICD-10-PCS root operations are complicated or confusing. Take reattachment for example. The root operation is pretty much what you would expect. The official definition of reattachment...
And the new proposed ICD-10-CM/PCS implementation date is (drum roll, please)…October 1, 2014. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the new date as part...
When a physician moves a body part to a new place without disrupting its vascular and nervous supply, coders will code to root operation Transfer in ICD-10-PCS. The root operation is indicated by the...
When a physician completely closes the orifice or lumen of a tubular body part, coders will look to the root operation occlusion in ICD-10-PCS. The orifice can be a natural orifice or an artificially...
The ICD-10-PCS defines root operations excision and resection in a very similar way. Excision is cutting out or off, without replacement, a portion of a body part. Coders should report the qualifier...
Some of the ICD-10-PCS root operations are very similar—think excision (cutting out or off, without replacement, a portion of a body part) and resection (cutting out or off, without replacement, all...
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...
Physicians use devices all the time during procedures. For example, they may place a temporary catheter in a patient, insert a drug-eluting stent, or insert a central line. So when do you report a...
As hospitals develop more intensive training programs for ICD-10-CM/PCS, coordinators may want to consider how different learning styles will impact the effectiveness of these training sessions. Education has to work for everyone and one size does not necessarily fit all. Victoria Weinert, RHIT, CCS and Lora Ma explain how to get everyone moving in the same direction and prevent coders from going rogue.
We hear about physician engagement across and throughout all healthcare settings almost daily, so it’s nothing new. But it's important for the upcoming transition to ICD-10-CM/PCS. Gloryanne Bryant, RHIA, RHIT, CCS, CCDS, offers suggestions for how to get your physicians engaged in the change.
When you hear the word 'transplant', what do you think of first? Many people probably think of organ transplants. If you’re one of those people, you’re all set for the ICD-10-PCS root operation...
While working on various projects related to ICD-10-PCS, I have discovered many areas where I think coders are going to struggle because the rules either go against the way we code now in ICD-9-CM...
Removal sounds like it should be an easy root operation in ICD-10-PCS. Removal means taking something out, right? Physicians remove things all the time—your appendix, a cyst, the toy your son stuck...
When a physician frees a body part from an abnormal physical constraint by cutting or by use of force, coders will use the root operation release (N) in ICD-10-PCS. Keep in mind, though, that you...
In ICD-10-PCS, coders assign the root operation bypass (third character 1) when the surgeon’s objective in the procedure is to reroute the contents of a tubular body part. Bypass procedures includes...
In the medical and surgical section of ICD-10-PCS, character 5 refers to the approach or method used to reach or expose a body part during a procedure. As a result, coders will need to look for...
The American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates voted to “work vigorously to stop implementation of ICD-10” during the closing session of its semi-annual policy-making meeting November 15...
Coders will use the root operation division when the physician plans to cut into, transect, or otherwise separate all or a portion of a body part. Do not use division if the physician plans to cut or...
Another new term coders will need to know for ICD-10-PCS root operations is fragmentation. Fragmentation is breaking solid matter in the body into pieces. Note that in a fragmentation procedure, the...
