AHIMA is calling for coders, billers, and providers to contact Congress to ask for no additional delays to ICD-10 after physician groups have recently started to advocate for members to petition Congress to introduce a new, two-year implementation delay to push the compliance date to October 1, 2017.
With the increased specificity required for ICD-10-CM coding, coders need a solid foundation in anatomy and physiology. Review the anatomy of the endocrine system and how to code for conditions affecting it.
Q: We have a patient diagnosed with neuropathy due to poorly controlled insulin-dependent Type 1 diabetes mellitus. What should we report in ICD-10-CM?
In its November issue, the Journal of AHIMA published an article citing significantly lower costs for physician practices to transition to ICD-10 than the numbers supplied by Nachimson Advisors in a...
Oh, that Jose Canseco. Such a kidder. Turns out, his claim that his finger fell off during a poker game was a joke. He did actually shoot part of it off “cleaning” his gun and did indeed have it...
Providers gauge the severity of an acute brain injury using the Glasgow Coma Scale, and in ICD-10-CM, coders will be able to code this score. Kim Carr, RHIT, CCS, CDIP, CCDS , and Gretchen Young-Charles, RHIA, explain how to code the coma scale in ICD-10-CM.
Coders often talk about guidelines and coding conventions, but what about ethics? Robert S. Gold, MD , discusses the value of following ethical coding standards.
Malnutrition is at its most basic level any nutritional imbalance and it is often underdiagnosed. James S. Kennedy, MD, CCS, William E. Haik, MD, FCCP, CDIP, and Mindy Hamilton, RD, LD , explain the clinical indicators and coding basics for malnutrition.
Q: We have a problem getting our physicians to understand what we are querying for chronic respiratory failure when a patient is on home oxygen continuously with documented supplementary oxygen of less than 90%, or arterial blood gas with hypoxemia. The physicians tell us chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is chronic respiratory failure by definition. Can you help us clarify this situation or give us some tips on how to educate our physicians?
Baseball fans may remember Jose Canseco as part of the Oakland A’s slugging duo, the Bash Brothers. He made a lot of money hitting the ball very, very far. I hope he saved some for his medical bills...
As healthcare professionals, we’re all familiar to some degree with HIPAA. You know, the law that makes it illegal to release protected health information, among other things. Hospital employees have...
One of the biggest stumbling blocks for ICD-10 implementation by small physician practices was the estimated cost of the transition. Those costs may not be as high as originally estimated, according...
Ever play with a Magic 8 Ball? (If not, there’s an app for that.) Ask it a question, shake it up, and get an answer. Usually something vague (and vaguely ominous) like, “Reply hazy try again.” Asking...
Nearly 30% of Medicare patients are enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA) programs, which come with specific coding and documentation challenges. Elaine King, MHS, RHIA, CHP, CHDA, CDIP, FAHIMA, and Bonnie S. Cassidy, MPA, RHIA, FAHIMA, FHIMSS, highlight key requirements for reporting diagnoses that map to Hierarchical Condition Category codes, the basis of MA plans.
CMS finalized a new data collection requirement for services performed in off-campus, provider-based clinics in the 2015 OPPS final rule , which was released October 31.
The House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would impact supervision levels for certain outpatient services. Debbie Mackaman, RHIA, CPCO , reviews the impact of the legislation and which provider types and services it would affect.
Q: I work in a large, provider-based orthopedic clinic with a rheumatology department that has many patients who are very ill with several comorbid conditions. Does the physician need to document every comorbid condition that impacts his or her medical decision making for each encounter? Do we need to code every comorbidity each time in order to meet hierarchical condition category (HCC) requirements?
You may have noticed that the ICD-10 manuals have the word “draft” splashed all over them. (If you have an actual paper ICD-10 manual that is. The PDFs don’t include the word draft.) I had someone...
Welcome to OR 13 at the Stitch ‘Em Up Hospital, where Dr. Hack N. Slash is preparing for today’s procedure. And what is today’s procedure? Dr. Slash is performing a cut down and suturing of a...
