We were expecting October 1, 2015, to be the new ICD-10 compliance date and CMS made it official with the release of a final rule, Administrative Simplification: Change to the Compliance Date for the...
Ah, the joys of camping. The fresh air, the beautiful scenery, the friendly forest creatures. Sounds like a great way to escape from the urban jungle and the daily grind. Nice in theory, not so nice...
Inpatient coders and clinical documentation improvement specialists are very familiar with CCs and MCCs. After all, they help determine the MS-DRG assignment for a particular inpatient stay. ICD-10-...
Put on your deerstalker hat and grab your magnifying glass. It’s time to do our best Sherlock Holmes impersonation. We just received a chart from Dr. Doolittle and we need to code the procedure...
Julie comes into the Fix ‘Em Up Clinic with a seriously broken arm. Her son Jay left his toy fire engine on the stairs and Julie tripped over it. She threw her arms out to brace her fall. And then...
Have you started dual coding for ICD-9 and ICD-10? Two facilities shared their experiences today during the AHA’s webinar, Lessons Learned on Dual Coding–A Provider’s View. The first thing you need...
It turns out that not all eponyms are going away in ICD-10-PCS. The Alphabetic Index still includes an entry for a Roux-en-Y operation. The entry directs you to see bypass of the gastrointestinal...
Holly spent the weekend hanging out at the beach, enjoying the sun. The sand was so warm that she slipped off her shoes to stroll near the water. And disturbed a crab in the process. The crustacean,...
A lot of people are starting their Fourth of July celebrations early. At least it seems that way at the Fix ‘Em Up Clinic. Shannon took her dog Damian to the park to watch some fireworks last night...
Go to your local bookstore, pick up a copy of Gray’s Anatomy (the book, not the television show), and flip though the illustrations. Alternately, you can Google “Gray’s anatomy illustrations.” They...
CMS and Obamacare have increasingly been moving healthcare toward a more value-based model. They want to pay physicians for how well they treat patients and not by the volume of services they provide...
More healthcare providers would have been ready for an October 1, 2014 ICD-10 implementation date than people may have realized, according to a survey by Edifecs, eHealth Initiative (eHI) and AHIMA...
Composers lead pretty safe lives, right? They compose music, conduct the symphony, and hang out at post-show parties. And we’re not talking rock star parties. Sometimes, though, that job isn’t so...
Poor Finn is having a rough week. It started out well as he spent Sunday with his folks and older brother at an amusement park being as amused as a 6-month-old can be. Things started going downhill...
Jeff comes in to the Fix ‘Em Up Clinic complaining of shortness of breath, a persistent cough, tightness in his chest, and frequent respiratory infections. He tells Nurse Nosey that he smokes a pack...
Dodge ball is not a game for wimps or the uncoordinated. Even master ball dodgers can end up in the Fix ‘Em Up Clinic. Steve engaged in a spirited game of dodge ball over the weekend, which resulted...
What do you get when you combine a full moon and Friday the 13th? Some really odd injuries at the Fix ‘Em Up Clinic. Fortunately, we here at the clinic suffer from neither paraskevidekatriaphobia (...
I recently spoke with Barbara Hinkle-Azzara, RHIA , vice president of HIM operations for HRS Coding in Baltimore about preparing for ICD-10 and, more specifically, about the anticipated MS-DRG...
A patient comes into the ED following an automobile accident. The physician documents that the patient has an open, displaced fracture of the lateral condyle of the right tibia. The physician also...
We all know that ICD-10 codes will require more complete documentation. We’ve been telling physicians that, but maybe we’re not explaining it well or correctly. What makes documentation better? It’s...
