What a difference 15 minutes can make when billing E/M services. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a notice March 14 correcting several errors in the 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule. Most notably, CMS is correcting technical errors in the calculations of the time thresholds for reporting evaluation and […]
Medical coding strategies contribute various benefits, counting cost reduction and control, systematic healthcare management, and increased scalability. Compliance with medical coding qualities also promises patients’ data privacy and security and alleviates the threats of audits. In the current healthcare landscape, keeping up financial solidity has become progressively hard due to the shift from fee-for-service to […]
In essence, rediology coding is the process of translating medical procedures performed in radiology into universal alphanumeric codes. These codes are crucial for billing purposes, as they determine the reimbursement received by healthcare providers from insurance companies. Adhere to the guidelines provided by CPT®, ACR, and payers to ensure precise reporting and appropriate reimbursement. Diagnostic […]
The April 2023 ICD-10-CM update adds many new codes for reporting external causes of injuries as well as expanded codes for reporting factors influencing health status more succinctly. But read the revised guideline for reporting social determinants of health (SDOH) before using these codes. Changes to the Tabular List In the ICD-10-CM Tabular List of […]
Using this technology to create the discharge summary is that the output is only as good as the input. A physician advisor once had a terribly unfortunate incident in which a pregnant patient died. This initiated a mandatory investigation by the Ohio Department of Health (ODH). This was one of those imperfect storms in which […]
February may be American Heart Month, but correctly diagnosing and coding cardiac conditions requires healthcare professionals to work hard to get right 365 days a year. Outlining coding guidance for pulmonary hypertension – a rare condition that nonetheless can be particularly deadly, often because it is not diagnosed until it is in advanced stages. It […]
The updates to ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS that become effective April 1 were released in mid-January. The updates include 42 new diagnosis codes. The significant changes to the ICD-10-CM guidelines are the following: A.19 – Code Assignment and Clinical Criteria This section has added a new sentence: “If there is conflicting medical record documentation, query the […]
Not Coding the Highest Level When it comes to ICD-10 coding, a coder’s job is to code to the highest level of specificity. This means detailing and abstracting the most information out of the medical reports from the provider and taking accurate notes. It also means knowing the medical terminology for both procedures and diagnoses. […]
Don’t assume the codes you’ve been using to report drugs and biologicals still apply. The January 2023 update to the HCPCS Level II code file from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) includes 184 new codes for reporting services and supplies. Approximately 36 of the new codes were created to separately identify products […]
Erica Remer, MD, CCDS, a Member Board of Directors of American College of Physician Advisors, have been talking about improving the electronic medical record and making it more end-user-friendly. Today, she grouses about documentation in general. Her husband, who is a radiologist, and she were commiserating at how awful and uninformative provider documentation has become […]