Acid-base disorders are pathologic changes in carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO2) or serum bicarbonate (HCO3−) that typically produce abnormal arterial pH values.
Acidosis refers to physiologic processes that cause acid accumulation or alkali loss (pH < 7.35)
Alkalosis refers to physiologic processes that cause alkali accumulationor acid loss (pH > 7.45)
Anatomy and terminology, Hospital inpatient, Training
Patient presents with a chief complaint of thoracic intrinsic spinal cord lesion causing back pain, left lower extremity sciatic-type pain, and foot drop. The patient notes that they were in their usual state of health until mid-April, when they spontaneously developed left foot numbness that was associated with back pain and some radicular left leg pain. Multiple imaging of the spine was obtained which was concerning for probable spinal cord hemorrhage due to a possible cavernoma, prompting neurosurgery evaluation.
Medicare covers two caregiver training services that are similar enough to cause confusion, claims errors and denials.
For example, behavior management training (96202-96203) and the separate training that shows caregivers how to assist patients who have functional deficits (97550-97552) both include time-based code pairs.
Health information management, Hospital inpatient, Hospital outpatient
Use this Antibiotic Efficacy Table to aid in identification of antibiotics by brand name and their effectiveness against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria.
Auditing and monitoring, Health information management, Hospital outpatient, Physician practice, Training
Reporting discussion of management or test interpretation
Count discussions that meet the E/M definition. A “discussion of management or test interpretation” can earn a moderate or high score under the data review element of an E/M office visit. But before you give the billing practitioner credit for a discussion, make sure the documentation shows that it met the definition of a discussion.
Use the illustrated guide on discussions to train staff.
Auditing and monitoring, Clinical documentation, Training
This resource takes a retrospective look at the CDI profession in terms of compensation, industry projection, advancements, new hires, and other data points.
Health information management, Hospital outpatient, Training
Coders should make sure their physicians and qualified healthcare professionals (QHP) are ready for the crucial role in reporting HCPCS Level II code G0136 (administration of a standardized, evidence-based social determinants of health [SDOH] risk assessment tool, 5-15 minutes, not more often than every 6 months).
While practices can perform a SDOH assessment for all of its patients, members of the medical team will take the lead in identifying patients who meet Medicare’s requirements for the billable service.
Share the following illustration with providers to help them negotiate Medicare’s rules. This tool was originally published on Part B News.
Coders had to review and update their training materials for split/shared visits for physician reporting when CMS completely revamped the rules in 2022. It wouldn’t hurt to do so again with this tool to make sure they match the CMS rules and CPT manual guidelines that went into effect January 1, 2024.
