Got an ICD-10 question? Answers are coming soon. ICD-10 implementation is still almost two years away, but the American Hospital Association’s Coding Clinic will add an ICD-10 section starting in the...
Hospitals and physician practices are used to being in competition with each other and maintaing a veil of secrecy over internal operations. Well, that’s not really limited to just healthcare, it...
The transition to ICD-10 code set is expected to be one of the most substantial changes in medical coding history and providers and payers need to start preparing now. Undoubtedly, you still have...
Wouldn’t it be nice if the physician documented a definitive diagnosis for every patient at the time the patient left the office, clinic, or hospital? We know that will never happen. Sometimes, the...
Football season is underway in Anytown and we have some crazy players coming in to Fix ‘Em Up Clinic with some crazy-looking knee injuries. Quarterback Tom is in after suffering an unhappy triad of...
What do you know, bubonic plague is still hanging around. It seems like we should have eradicated it by now. Turns out, if you go to the desert southwest and play with dead animals you too can...
ICD-10-CM coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction codes will undoubtedly differ from their ICD-9-CM counterparts in some ways, but certain aspects will remain the same. Shannon E. McCall, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CPC-I, CEMC, CCDS, and Melanie Endicott, MBA/HCM, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, explain what coders need to know about reporting these conditions.
Coders are already familiar with the Table of Drugs in ICD-9-CM, but they will find some important differences in ICD-10-CM. Shannon McCall, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CPC-I, CEMC, CCDS, and Ann Zeisset, RHIT, CCS, CCS-P, walk through the key similarities and differences in the Table of Drugs.
Athenian philosopher Socrates famously drank poisonoud hemlock after being found guilty of corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens and of impiety for not believing in the gods of the state...
Ever have one of those nights when you just can’t sleep? Maybe you’re awake fretting about the transition to ICD-10. Or maybe you had one too many cups of coffee. Never fear, we have plenty of ICD-10...
Labor Day might mark the unofficial end of summer, but we have plenty of summer-related injuries today at the Fix ‘Em Up Clinic. Our first guest of the day, James, went rock climbing for the first (...
Many coders can quickly quote the code for diabetes mellitus in ICD-9-CM (code 250.00) when the physician only documents diabetes mellitus. But what will coders need in the documentation for diabetes mellitus in ICD-10-CM? Dissect the differences in coding for diabetes mellitus in ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM.
Welcome to Stitch ‘Em Hospital, where we’re preparing for ICD-10-PCS by actually coding some of our procedures using the new system. We want to make sure we’re ready to go on October 1, 2014, and...
ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM stroke and coma codes reveal many similarities and some important differences. Alice Zentner, RHIA, and James S. Kennedy, MD, CCS, CDIP, explain the changes and what coders need to know to prepare for ICD-10-CM stroke and coma coding.
Neoplasm coding in ICD-10-CM is similar to the current ICD-9-CM coding. Most benign and all malignant neoplasm codes are found in chapter 2 of ICD-10-CM, just as in ICD-9-CM, according to Betty Hovey, BA, CPC, CPC-I, CPC-H, CPCD, CCS-P, PCS, CCP, CIC, RMC. She explains some of the ICD-10-CM guidelines for proper coding.