The improper payment rate for oxygen equipment and supplies to the Medicare program was 62.1% with projected improper payments of approximately $952 million during the 2014 reporting period, according to a Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) program study detailed in the January 2016 issue of the Medicare Quarterly Compliance Newsletter.
The government recently approved changes for physician payment systems. Is your clinical documentation improvement (CDI) team ready to tackle these challenges? More importantly, are your physicians ready?
CMS audits for meaningful use could mean collecting information across the coding and HIM departments. David Holtzman, JD, CIPP, and Darice Grzybowski, MA, RHIA, FAHIMA, review what auditors could request and how to prepare your facility.
Gwen S. Regenwether, BSN, RN, and Cheree A. Lueck, BSN, RN, look at how to use audit and query rate information to improve documentation at a facility and how to encourage continuing education and collaboration going forward.
Joel Moorhead, MD, PhD, CPC, writes about details for spinal conditions for coders to consider when choosing the most accurate ICD-10 codes for diagnoses and procedures.
If two ICD-10-CM diagnoses are not related to each other, but exist at the same time, they may be reported together despite an Excludes1 note, according to a recent release from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The coding advice has been approved by the four Cooperating Parties—the American Health Information Management Association, the American Hospital Association, CMS, and the National Center for Health Statistics.
Gwen S. Regenwether, BSN, RN, and Cheree A. Lueck, BSN, RN, discuss how the clinical documentation improvement department at their facility operates and their process for conducting a baseline audit and determining query rates across specialties.
Q: CMS released guidance last summer about not auditing or counting errors for the specificity of an ICD-10-CM code. CMS is not going to count the code as an error as long as the first three digits are correct. Does this apply to medical necessity diagnoses and edits?
Jennifer Avery, CCS, COC, CPC, CPC-I, writes about how the increased specificity in ICD-10-CM changes pregnancy coding and how to use gestational weeks in physician documentation to report trimesters.
While providers are still awaiting further guidance on the four modifiers CMS introduced as subsets of modifier -59 (distinct procedural service), the latest NCCI Manual does include clarification for certain scenarios involving the modifier.
Modifier -52 is used to report procedures that are partially reduced or eliminated at the provider’s discretion. Susan E. Garrison, CHCA, CHCAS, CCS-P, CHC, PCS, FCS, CPAR, CPC, CPC-H, looks at how the modifier should be applied in hospitals and tips for compliance.
Perhaps recognizing the massive undertaking for coding and HIM departments in 2015 with the implementation of ICD-10, the latest CPT® update includes a relatively small 367 changes for 2016. Shannon E. McCall, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CPC-I, CEMC, CCDS, and Peggy Blue, MPH, CPC, CEMC, CCS-P, review updates to the digestive system and E/M codes.
Q: What can we report for the physician if circumcision is done during delivery? Do we bill that on a separate claim for the infant? Is this a covered procedure?
Sometimes you see documentation in the medical record entered by one physician and then by nobody else. Sometimes you see documentation entered by one physician and copy/pasted by everyone else.
I first attended a lecture on the "upcoming" ICD-10 changes that were expected in 1991 (when the rest of the world started transitioning). On October 1, 2015, a mere 24 years and countless lectures later, the U.S. finally adopted ICD-10 (via ICD-10-CM and PCS, which are both unique to the U.S. at this time).
Providers will only have to report one data collection modifier related to a C-APC in 2016. Jugna Shah, MPH, and Valerie A. Rinkle MPA, examine the requirements behind the modifier and how APCs will also be restructured next year.
Outpatient coding and billing errors lead to more than half of all automated denials by Recovery Auditors, according to the latest RACTrac survey from the American Hospital Association.
Jugna Shah, MPH, and Valerie A. Rinkle, MPA, review new comprehensive APCs (C-APC) CMS added in the 2016 OPPS final rule as well as the negative payment update due to a CMS overestimation in 2014.
Before the new year begins, Lori-Lynne A. Webb, CPC, CCS-P, CCP, CHDA, CDIP, COBGC, recommends taking a look at post-implementation risks CMS and third-party payers have identified. She also offers solutions on auditing and reviewing these risks. Note: To access this free article, make sure you first register here if you do not have a paid subscription. Once you have set up your free registration, you can log in and access this article by clicking here.
Shelley C. Safian, PhD, RHIA, CCS-P, COC, CPC-I, AHIMA-approved ICD-10-CM/PCS trainer, writes about how to report biopsies in ICD-10-PCS since the code set does not include the term among available root operations.
A recent court ruling determined that CMS had to explain its calculation for a negative 0.2% reduction in inpatient payment rates as a result of implementing the 2-midnight rule. The court also said that providers should have an opportunity to comment on the calculation.
Shannon E. McCall, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CPC-I, CEMC, CCDS, reviews updates in Coding Clinic about coding orthopedic procedures in ICD-10-PCS, coma data in ICD-10-CM, and both cardiovascular procedures and diagnoses.
Marianne Durling, MHA, RHIA, CDIP, CCS, CPC, CIC, an HIM director for a health system in North Carolina, provides her wish list for her department and coders, including thoughts on implementing a CDI program, working with payers, and hiring staff.
CMS is introducing multiple new modifiers that providers may need to report beginning January 1, 2016. Jugna Shah, MPH, reviews the modifiers and the conditions for reporting them.
CMS recently released an ICD-10-CM resource for specialties and specific conditions and services that collects varied educational tools, including webcasts, case studies, and clinical concept guides.
In addition to updating procedures for 2-midnight rule reviews, the 2016 OPPS final rule includes new guidance on coding and billing issues, including reporting certain CT scan services. Jugna Shah, MPH, examines the changes and what providers need to do before 2016.
Q: How many times should Glasgow Coma Scale information be captured? If you have the ambulance, ED physician, and attending physician all recording the score, should each be reported?
Nearly half a million patients receive dialysis services each year. Shelley C. Safian, PhD, RHIA, CCS-P, COC, CPC-I, writes about the ICD-10-CM and CPT® codes providers will need to know in order to report these services accurately.
Q: We recently had attending physicians send back queries with responses by the physician assistant (PA) or nurse practitioner (NP) who documented for them. Is it acceptable for a PA or NP to answer queries after the patient is discharged?
ICD-10 implementation has gone smoothly for approximately 80% of attendees who responded to a survey during a recent webcast from audit, tax, and advisory firm KPMG.
Linda Renee Brown, RN, MA, CCDS, CCS, CDIP, writes about the importance of tracking venous thromboembolism at hospitals and how to ensure physician documentation includes the correct level of detail to capture it.
Robert S. Gold, MD, reviews conditions such as sepsis, hypertension, and syncope and how the switch to ICD-10-CM clarifies reporting codes in some instances, while other issues from ICD-9-CM remain.
The holidays can be a stressful time for coding departments, especially this year with the implementation of ICD-10. Raemarie Jimenez, CPC, CPMA, CPC-I, CANPC, CRHC, and Darice Grzybowski, MA, RHIA, FAHIMA, provide methods for HIM managers to keep coders engaged and productive this time of year and beyond.
The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) is a CMS pay-for-performance program that links the amount hospitals are paid to risk-adjusted readmission rates. Measures included in the program are claims based, which simply means that the ICD-10 codes we submit on our claims for payment are also used to assess our performance; our performance then impacts our payment.
Providers need to be careful when reporting multiple services with status indicator J1 on the same claim, as NCCI logic could result in no payment for any of the reported comprehensive APC (C-APC) services. Typically, when multiple J1 procedures or services appear on the same claim, the procedure with the highest rank according to CMS is assigned to the C-APC. Certain code combinations of J1 services will also lead to a complexity adjustment to a higher-paying C-APC.
Some interesting tidbits of information can be gleaned from the most recent release of the AHA Coding Clinic for ICD-10-CM/PCS to help coders as they work in the new code set.
Providers need to be careful when reporting multiple services with status indicator J1 on the same claim, as NCCI logic could result in no payment for any of the reported comprehensive APC (C-APC) services.
Provider-based clinics and departments are increasingly common, but the rules for provider-based billing can often be confusing, especially given recent changes to modifiers and place of service codes.
Coding for spinal arthrodesis procedures has always been a challenge given the complexity of these detailed surgeries. Coding them in ICD-10-PCS adds several elements that must be taken into consideration when looking to apply the proper code or codes.
Q: A patient fractured all metatarsals last year and had open reduction and internal fixation. The patient now has a nonunion of the fracture sites and is going back to the OR for an amputation. What would be the appropriate ICD-10-CM seventh character to report?
CMS and Medicare Administrative Contractors are aware of certain issues regarding National Coverage Determinations and Local Coverage Determinations related to ICD-10 and working to resolve them as soon as possible, according to CMS.
