Shannon Newell, RHIA, CCS, explains that pneumonia discharges impact hospital payments under the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program, as well as the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program, and conveys what CDI teams can do to help.
Rose T. Dunn, MBA, RHIA, CPA, FACHE, FHFMA, CHPS , writes about how one of the many coder obligations is to report noncompliant activities and provides information on how to do this anonymously. 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.
A clinical documentation improvement (CDI) team can rapidly lead to quality improvements, according to a recent survey conducted by Black Book Market Research.
James S. Kennedy, MD, CCS, CDIP, says that since the clinical intent and language of physicians does not translate into the administrative language of ICD-10-CM, understanding and embracing both their clinical foundations is essential to accurately measure outcomes and ensure coding compliance.
Complex chronic care management services can be challenging to accurately tabulate and report. Lori-Lynne A. Webb, CPC, CCS-P, CCP, CHDA, COBGC, CDIP, writes about how billers and coders can work with providers to report them accurately.
Q: I notice the parenthetical remarks underneath the new 2017 CPT spinal epidural injection codes (62321, 62323, and 62327) indicate that fluoroscopy, CT, and ultrasound codes are not to be reported with the code. However, the code descriptors only include fluoroscopy and CT, without any mention of ultrasound (76942). Is ultrasound included in the description for 62321?
The 2017 CPT update didn’t include a huge amount of changes, but new codes have replaced the previous ones for dialysis circuit coding. Stacie L. Buck, RHIA, CCS-P, CIRCC, RCC, reviews the new codes and what services are included in each.
Late in 2016, CMS finalized three bundled payment models focusing on cardiac care and another for orthopedic care, while also updating aspects of the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) Model introduced in April 2016.
Many coders may know that the human body contains 206 bones, but they may not realize that more than 10% of them are in the cranium. In addition to reviewing skull anatomy, examine common ICD-10-CM codes for skull conditions.
Pneumonia discharges impact hospital payments under the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program, as well as the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program.
Managers should not assume that they can review every guideline, every item in Coding Clinic , or every coding-related issue targeted by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) or Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC).
by Stacie L. Buck, RHIA, CCS-P, CIRCC, RCC One area of CPT coding that saw big changes for 2017 is for dialysis circuit coding. The existing codes have all been deleted, and new codes have been...
Trey La Charité, MD, FACP, CCDS , notes that getting a handle on a facilities’ case-mix index (CMI) fluctuations can be difficult, and shares insights to how CDI teams can handle these CMI difficulties.
Q: If a complication is clearly documented as unavoidable or due to a complex situation, should it be coded even if an intervention was done to correct it?
The 2017 ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting brought many changes and updates for coders, and present-on-admission (POA) reporting was not excluded. Completely understanding POA guidelines is necessary for any inpatient coder.
