The fiscal year 2020 inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) proposed rule threw gas on the population health fire when it proposed giving social determinants of health (SDOH) codes more weight as complications/comorbid conditions (CC).
Keeping up with commercial payer requirements can stump any revenue integrity department, and commercial payer audits can be an especially tough puzzle to solve.
Prevention of the flu is important as this illness can lead to hospitalization and even death. The CDC reports the hospitalization rate due to the flu is 2.7 per every 100,000 persons, and there is a 4.8% mortality rate due to influenza and pneumonia.
New guidelines have been published regarding the diagnosis and treatment of adults with community-acquired pneumonia by the American Thoracic Society and Infectious Diseases Society of America (Metlay et al., 2019).
Coding productivity held steady, but missing documentation and unanswered queries bog down coders, according to the results of our 2019 coding productivity survey
The Medicine section of the CPT Manual includes codes for a variety of services including acupuncture, vaccinations, and behavioral health assessments and is divided into 33 subsections that can make it challenging to navigate.
The Medicine section of the CPT Manual includes codes for a variety of services and is divided into 33 subsections that can be challenging to navigate. Review guidance for reporting 47 new codes within this section of the manual including those for vaccines, behavioral assessments, ocular examinations, and more. Note : To access this free article, make sure you first register here if you do not have a paid subscription.
CMS recently rescinded Transmittal 4880, January 2020 Update of the OPPS, and replaced it with Transmittal 4494 to include updated language on the removal of procedures from the inpatient-only list and new information on out-of-pocket costs for screenings with electrocardiography. All other information remains the same.
HCPro’s 2019 coding productivity survey showed that coding productivity held steady for 2019, but facilities continue to struggle with miscommunications between coding and CDI staff and unanswered physician queries.
The American Medical Association introduced new CPT codes for long-term electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring sessions that went into effect on January 1. Shelley C. Safian, PhD, RHIA, HCISPP, CCS-P, COC, CPC-I , describes how to accurately apply these codes based on details in provider documentation.
Q: We are finding that physician documentation is lacking for vaping-related lung injuries at our hospital, making it hard to report the condition accurately. What can our coding team do to remedy this situation, and how do we accurately report vaping-related lung injuries in ICD-10-CM?
According to the 2019 coding productivity survey recently conducted by HCPro, 36% of inpatient coders indicated that they only coded an average of one to two inpatient charts per hour.
With the increased focus on clinical validation denials, more and more CDI professionals are finding themselves involved in the appeals-writing process and may initially feel a bit overwhelmed by the magnitude of the job. This article is part two of the two-part series covering best practices and appeal advice for those on the frontlines.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, flu season is underway for most of the United States, and the activity level is expected to increase over the next several weeks. In this article, Adriane Martin, DO, FACOS, CCDS, reviews inpatient ICD-10-CM reporting for the flu and its potential complications.
Adrienne Commeree, CPC, CPMA, CCS, CEMC, CPIP, analyzes pertinent guidelines and coding dilemmas found within Chapter 1 of the ICD-10-CM Manual: Certain Infectious and Parasitic Diseases. Commeree covers instructional note guidance and other chapter specific guidance for diagnoses such as sepsis and HIV. Note : To access this free article, make sure you first register here if you do not have a paid subscription.
The 2020 edition of the National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) Policy Manual features new guidance and clinical examples to help coders appropriately apply the -X{EPSU} modifiers debuted by CMS several years ago.
Q: A physician performed a pleural catheter flush using saline with manual clearance of clots under ultrasound guidance. Should we bill an E/M code for an outpatient office visit or report this using other CPT codes?
The American Medical Association (AMA) recently published a checklist to help physician practices transition to the new E/M coding and documentation guidelines slated to take effect January 1, 2021.
