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Archive for Coding

Sep
30

Q&A: Charging for behavioral therapy in the home setting

Posted by: JustCoding News | Comments (0)
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Q: I have a question regarding behavioral health treatment sessions. Can a physician or licensed therapist (e.g., LPC or LCSW) provide therapy to a client at the client’s home and then charge this service to the insurance company?

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Sep
30

2009 JustCoding.com Coder Salary Survey

Posted by: JustCoding News | Comments (0)
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JustCoding.com is conducting its annual coder salary survey, and we would appreciate your input. Please take a few moments to complete this survey. Only participate in the survey if you are a coding professional. If you are not a coding professional, please forward the survey to one of your coding colleagues. Note that the survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete. We appreciate your time! If the click-through does not work, please cut and paste this URL into the address bar of your browser: www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB229JMJLMWKC 

Thank you for your time and assistance.

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Sep
29

Accurately assign POA indicators with the right info

Posted by: HIM Connection | Comments (0)
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The present-on-admission (POA) indicator refers to conditions that are present at the time an order for inpatient admission occurs. Coders should report a POA indicator for a principal diagnosis, as well as any secondary diagnoses or E codes.

To assign POA, coders must rely on a treating physician’s documentation. Assuming physician documentation is accurate and complete, a coder can consider these tips when assigning a POA indicator: Read More→

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Sep
29

Q&A: Coding conditions as “acute” versus “chronic”

Posted by: HIM Connection | Comments (0)
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Q: A patient came into the ER with complaints of a headache and facial pain. The ER physician gave a final diagnosis of sinusitis. This patient had no history of sinusitis. After a coding review, the reviewer said we were wrong to use “acute” and told us to use “chronic.” She told us never to use “acute” unless the physician documents the condition as “acute.” We were previously under the impression that when coding ER accounts, coders should always report conditions as “acute.” Do you know of any ER coding guidelines or publications that would clear this up?

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Sep
22

Effectively research your ICD-9-CM coding questions

Posted by: HIM Connection | Comments (0)
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Follow these steps when researching an ICD-9-CM coding question:

  1. Start with the ICD-9-CM Manual. You can resolve many ICD-9-CM coding questions by carefully studying the ICD-9-CM Manual itself, paying particular attention to typographical conventions and the various notes included throughout the Manual.
  2. Review the official guidelines. The Public Health Service and CMS jointly publish the Official ICD-9-CM Guidelines for Coding and Reporting. The following organizations helped develop and approve these guidelines:
    • American Hospital Association (AHA)
    • AHIMA
    • CMS
    • National Center for Health Statistics
  3. Review Coding Clinic. Coding Clinic is a newsletter published by the AHA. Representatives from the four organizations listed above review and approve each issue of Coding Clinic. You can order a subscription or back issues of Coding Clinic from the AHA by calling 800/AHA-2626.

This tip was adapted from the handbook, Coding and You: What Every Healthcare Professional Should Know. For ordering information, visit the HCMarketplace.

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Sep
17

Q&A: Medically Unlikely Edits and Once in a Lifetime codes

Posted by: The RAC Report | Comments (0)
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Q: Several RACs are looking for once in a lifetime procedure coding errors. Wouldn’t Medically Unlikely Edits (MUE) help prevent a large number of these errors?
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Sep
15

Q&A: Coding acute blood loss anemia due to patient noncompliance

Posted by: HIM Connection | Comments (0)
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Q: A patient undergoes outpatient surgery and is subsequently admitted due to acute blood loss anemia with hemorrhage and low hematocrit and hemoglobin caused by Plavix®. A physician had instructed the patient to discontinue this medication 10 days before surgery. However, the patient admits after surgery that he or she stopped taking the drug only two days before surgery.

What ICD-9 code(s) should I report for this scenario? Read More→

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Sep
08

Ensure compliant coding for ARF

Posted by: HIM Connection | Comments (0)
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The following ICD-9-CM codes denote acute respiratory failure (ARF):

  • 518.81, ARF
  • 518.82, other pulmonary insufficiency, not elsewhere classified (includes acute respiratory distress, acute respiratory insufficiency, and adult respiratory distress syndrome NEC)
  • 518.84, acute and chronic respiratory failure

Check out Coding Clinic, fourth quarter 1998 and first quarter 2005, for more information about when ARF should be the principal diagnosis, as well as documentation requirements.

The sequencing of respiratory failure depends on the reason for admission. When respiratory failure from an underlying condition causes the inpatient admission, the failure becomes the principal diagnosis; when the patient develops respiratory failure after admission, it is the secondary diagnosis and should be coded as such.

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