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Issue 12, December 1, 2003 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• NCVHS recommendation big step forward for ICD-10 implementation

  HIM professionals are applauding recent developments in the push for ICD-10 implementation. The...

• ED coder role helps recover reimbursement, improves compliance

  At 150-bed Kalispell (MT) Regional Medical Center, a contracted employee of the emergency...

• Recheck program and ongoing training improve accuracy, consistency, showcase cod

  Lambert developed a coding "recheck" program, in which coders collaborate and discuss each other's...

• Residents and coding training make a healthy mix

  However, Brooks says that in the third year of residency, "they really want to spend some time with...

• Help bridge the gap: Coders' clinical knowledge benefits everyone

  We are in an era where HIM is at its highest level of importance. The survival of hospitals, other...

• Coding Q&A

  The mission of this BCCS monthly supplement is to help you find answers to your urgent coding...

Issue 11, November 1, 2003 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• New angles, renewed emphasis on medical necessity in 2004 Work Plan

  This year's Work Plan, issued by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) on October 1, includes many...

• ICD-10-CM debate continues

  A report on the field testing of ICD-10-CM from the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the...

• Don't neglect the effect of DRG CC splits

  In the 2004 final rule for the inpatient prospective payment system (PPS), a number of...

• Chart reviews yield valuable coding tips from a variety of cases scenarios

  By Robert S. Gold, MD On a recent chart review tour, I came across some tricky situations that...

• Alaska hospital struggles with coder recruiting

  Hospitals across the country have been forced to rely on contract coders to keep backlogs to a...

• Coding Q&A

  The mission of this BCCS monthly supplement is to help you find answers to your urgent coding...

Issue 10, October 1, 2003 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Partners for improved documentation may be right on your units

  Proper documentation supports coding compliance and medical necessity, reduces denials, and...

• No inpatient coders? Take another look at your outpatient coders

  When Debra Collingwood, RHIT, director of HIM at Stevens Hospital in Edmonds, WA, started her job...

• Follow the twists and turns of hernias to the right code

  The word "hernia" usually makes you think of an external bulge, either at the umbilicus or in the...

• Sharpen registration process for better reimbursement

  Ensuring a smooth and thorough registration process can help you cut down on back-end problems such...

• Coding Q&A

  The mission of this BCCS monthly supplement is to help you find answers to your urgent coding...

Issue 9, September 1, 2003 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• New ICD-9 diagnosis codes require training for coders, physicians

  The 79 new ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes and 24 new V codes published in the final rule in the August 1...

• Beware: New compliance hot spot

  One area to watch with the release of the inpatient prospective payment system (PPS) final rule is...

• Don't get your bones out of joints

  Misunderstanding anatomy can lead to coding errors that can have serious financial and compliance...

• Accurate stroke coding, even without costly work-ups

  Vacillating coding guidelines, the addition of fifth digits, and ongoing problems with...

• Coding Q&A

  The mission of this BCCS monthly supplement is to help you find answers to your urgent coding...

Issue 8, August 1, 2003 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• AHIMA members field test ICD-10

  Almost everyone involved with coding medical records is eagerly awaiting news on the implementation...

• Cross-training, certification focus push Florida coders up the ladder

  When Holly Woemmel, MA, RHIA, was hired as the matrix director of HIM for Health-First, Inc., in...

• Determining the differences between aneurysms, dissections, and pseudoaneurysms

  Last month, I discussed what aneurysms and dissections really are and how terminology crossovers...

• Check your charges before Pat Palmer comes knocking

  Eleven dollars for a "disposable mucous recovery system" may seem like a reasonable charge--until...

• Coding Q&A

  The mission of this BCCS monthly supplement is to help you find answers to your urgent coding...

Issue 7, July 1, 2003 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Outlier final rule adds to compliance burden for hospitals, FIs

  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) followed through with its plan to close...

• DRG payment window expansion unlikely if you follow current rules

  If you use the Office of Inspector General's annual Work Plan as one of your compliance tools, you...

• Make your coding department a well-oiled machine

  Part two of a two-part series In the June BCCS, we talked about various recruiting efforts. Now...

• Use official coding guidelines for general rules, create facility-specific guide

  It seems to take forever to get official coding guidance, and once it's published it doesn't always...

• The difference between aneurysms, dissections, and pseudoaneurysms

  Aneurysms, dissections, and pseudoaneurysms: Because of terminology crossovers, it may be difficult...

• Don't let documentation, digits derail diabetes coding

  Unclear documentation is usually the source for problems with coding for diabetes for your...

• Coding Q&A

  The mission of this BCCS monthly supplement is to help you find answers to your urgent coding...

Issue 6, June 1, 2003 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Find coders through conventional and unconventional methods

  Part one of a two part series. The nationwide coder shortage shows no signs of easing up, so...

• CMS clears up the foggy three-day payment window

  If your hospital's billing software bundles the accounts of the patient who has a sprained ankle...

• Overbilling settlement at UC Davis Medical Center prompts facility to add more a

  When the five medical schools in the University of California (UC) system settled a physicians at...

• What do all those failure codes mean?

  October 1, 2002, brought numerous new ICD-9-CM codes related to classifications of heart...

• Oklahoma hospital revamps its E/M coding

  Before January, the emergency department (ED) doctors and nurses at McAlester (OK) Regional Health...

• Coding Q&A

  The mission of this BCCS monthly supplement is to help you find answers to your urgent coding...

Issue 5, May 1, 2003 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Five steps to better septicemia documentation, coding compliance

  Whether physicians use the wrong language or coders misinterpret physicians' wording...

• Coders and physicians are on the same documentation page

  When Austin (MN) Medical Center, an affiliate of the Mayo Health System, became provider-based five...

• MN hospital integrates facility and physician billing

  When Austin (MN) Medical Center, an affiliate of the Mayo Health System, became provider-based five...

• Get the full story before assigning a code

  The codes for arteriovenous malformation (AVM) require you to determine whether a patient's AVM is...

• Interventional procedures cause coding confusion

  Interventional radiology procedures allow physicians to pinpoint diagnoses with minimal invasion...

• Coding Q & A

  This month's Q&A comes from HCPro, Inc.'s recent audioconference, "Coding and Billing for...

Issue 4, April 1, 2003 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Coder blows whistle on DRG upcoding in TN hospital

  In late January, Maury Regional Hospital in Columbia, TN, settled a $2 million whistleblower...

• Inpatient concurrent coding offers many benefits for WI facility

  A year ago, Nannette Roberts, CCS, director of HIM services at Ripon (WI) Medical Center, a...

• A physician's perspective on documentation, queries, and a working relationship

  Unless coders set themselves apart, they end up as just one of a long list of people who contact...

• Differentiating the definitions of diverticular disease

  It's important to understand what physicians are referring to when they use the term...

Issue 3, March 1, 2003 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Testing transactions

  Once you've developed your own transactions and code sets processes or put your software upgrades...

• Tips for auditing same-day readmissions

  Your hospital may try to do its best to treat and discharge patients efficiently. But if you...

• HIPAA prep: Survey shows most providers not ready for testing

  Once you've developed your own transactions and code sets processes or put your software upgrades...

• Modifying procedures-aborted, unsuccessful, and distinct

  Modifiers continue to play an integral role in correct outpatient coding, and they continue to...

• When not to code what the doctor says

  We all wish attending physicians would give us diagnoses when we need them. But sometimes we have...

• Coding Q&A

  The mission of this BCCS monthly supplement is to help you find answers to your urgent coding...

Issue 2, February 1, 2003 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

Issue 1, January 1, 2003 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

Issue 1, January 1, 2003

• Outlier payments face scrutiny

  Questionable outlier payments to other providers may expand the scope of a new federal...

• Coding Q&A

  The mission of this BCCS monthly supplement is to help you find answers to your urgent coding...

Issue 2, February 21, 2003

• A hiatus on hernias of the diaphragm

  By Robert S. Gold, MDWhen you see the same cases day after day, week after week, you tend to fall...

• Bled dry: Coding, billing for blood strain hospital and resources

  Between confusion over Medicare coding and insufficient reimbursement, billing for blood and...

• Coding Q&A

  The mission of this BCCS monthly supplement is to help you find answers to your urgent coding...

• Critical care coding and compliance concerns

  Time, place, diagnosis code all come into playAs the source of the highest-paying evaluation and...

• Unique structure at FL hospital increases coder recognition

  If you look for the Charge Capture and Coding (CC&C) unit at Mayo Clinic/St...

Issue 1, January 21, 2003

• Continuing Education Quiz

  October to December 2002Directions: • Complete the quiz by writing the letter corresponding...

• Managing CPT 2003

  Understanding everything from new subsections to new semicolonsBelieve it or not, the 250 CPT code...

• The truth about intravascular thrombosis and embolism

  By Robert S. Gold, MDCoding issues frequently arise because blood clots exist in the body that...

• Understanding hypertension coding

  There is a difference between high blood pressure and hypertension, but many physicians use the...