Hospitals are seeing a growing number of staff move off-site. Remote inpatient coders are common and might work from home several days a week. The shift is fueled in part by EHRs: As paper records disappear, it’s less necessary to have staff in nonclinical positions on-site. And, for many hospitals, space is at a premium.
With yearly code and guideline updates to the respiratory system, it’s important for coders to stay abreast of changes to ensure documentation and coding integrity.
Adrienne Commeree, CPC, CPMA, CCS, CEMC, CPIP , writes that understanding the epidemiology of HIV, its manifestations, and its stages are important when reviewing the medical record for ICD-10-CM coding, and interpreting provider documentation and understanding the coding guidelines are of the upmost importance for proper sequencing.
Jocelyn E. Murray, RN, CCDS, reviews the similarities and differences between CDI audits and coding compliance audits and says it’s our collective responsibility to provide the insight that defines the two specialties and the critical efforts both bring to the table.
James S. Kennedy, MD, CCS, CCDS, CDIP, interprets the various guidance given in Coding Clinic , Fourth Quarter 2017, including pre-bill audits and denials based on clinical criteria, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with exacerbated asthma.
Creating a query can be complicated, and there are a number of continued training tactics that prove successful for the coder when trying to improve upon physician query practices. This article takes a look at how improving a coder’s knowledge of principal and secondary diagnosis selection can produce a more effective physician query. Note: To access this free article, make sure you first register here if you do not have a paid subscription.
More than 13 million Americans have bladder incontinence, and women are twice more likely than men to have it, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Peggy Blue, MPH, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CEMC, reviews ICD-10-CM/PCS coding for the bladder and writes that with so many Americans affected, knowledge of proper coding of bladder diagnoses and procedures is important.
Sharme Brodie, RN, CCDS, reviews the most recent Coding Clinic guidance, which touches on common coding conundrums from subjects such as clostridium difficile, diabetes with ketoacidosis, myocardial infarction, pulmonary hypertension, and more.
It seems that the current buzz in the CDI and inpatient coding world is hierarchical condition categories (HCCs) and other health plan funding models. Everyone’s talking about HCCs for the inpatient, including AHIMA , ACDIS , and the AMA .
When asked to describe their job, many CDI professionals explain that they help physicians and coders paint an accurate picture of the care provided to patients. But how can CDI programs flip the canvas and dip their brushes to paint their own self-portrait?
In advance of ICD-10-CM/PCS, many institutions implemented computer-assisted coding (CAC) hoping to mitigate the anticipated productivity losses, but some research has confirmed my suspicions that there is an inverse relationship between coding productivity and accuracy.
Hiring top-notch inpatient coders: Is it good luck, great karma, or the power of prayer? Many coding managers say it takes all three to recruit high-quality, experienced medical record coders post-ICD-10.
Candace Blankenship, BSN, RN, CCDS, details the scoring weight of the new ICD-10-CM heart failure codes and looks at potential reimbursement discrepancies as none of the new heart failure codes have been assigned to a CC/MCC.
James S. Kennedy, MD, CCS, CDIP, CCDS, writes that in order to comply with CMS’ ever-changing metrics, it’s important for physicians to learn new techniques for better documentation so that ICD-10-CM/PCS codes can be reported more completely.
In advance of ICD-10-CM/PCS, many institutions implemented computer-assisted coding (CAC) hoping to mitigate anticipated productivity losses. Erica E. Remer, MD, FACEP, CCDS, highlights some of the pitfalls of CAC and provides techniques to improve accuracy. Note: To access this free article, make sure you first register here if you do not have a paid subscription.
James S. Kennedy, MD, CCS, CDIP, CCDS, writes that now that the fiscal year 2018 IPPS final rule and the 2018 ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting have been released, it’s important to review MS-DRG dynamics that warrant consideration in documentation and coding compliance.
Crystal Stalter, CDIP, CCS-P, CPC, writes about the benefits of creating best practices at your facility and how they help avoid time lost and unnecessary delays in payment. Note: To access this free article, make sure you first register here if you do not have a paid subscription.
According to the American Cancer Society, skin cancer is by far the most common type of cancer . Exposure to harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun without protection can cause skin cancer. UV rays can come from other sources as well, such as tanning beds and sun lamps. The number of skin cancer diagnoses has increased in the past few years.
