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Issue 12, December 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE
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Educate clinical staff to improve your hospital's reporting of POA indicators
The present-on-admission (POA) indicator is part of Medicare's effort to become an active versus a... -
Understand clinical perspective about how atrial fibrillation gets a bum rap as 'cause of death'
People don't die of atrial fibrillation. Okay, that's not always true. But on paper it appears as... -
Identify aneurysm location, shape, and type to ensure correct coding
An aneurysm occurs when an artery becomes filled and dilated with blood because of the pressure of... -
Coding Q&A
Sandy Nicholson, MA, RHIA, CCS-P, CEO of HCRSolutions, LLC, in Locust Grove, GA, answered the four...
Issue 11, November 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE
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Coordinated staff, documentation play vital roles in POA reporting
Although many providers are bracing themselves for yet another regulation to satisfy the... -
ICD-9 guidelines revise coding of sepsis, pain management
The new ICD-9-CM coding guidelines do not contain any major, sweeping changes, but they do include... -
CMS discusses POA reporting deadlines, inpatient orders
CMS hosted a Hospital Open Door Forum call on September 27 during which it discussed several topics... -
ICD-10 update: Healthcare industry waits for action
The healthcare community recognizes the benefits of the ICD-10-CM coding system and is ready to... -
Severity counts despite MS-DRG inadequacies
I must start with an apology regarding my last diatribe about the newly effective Medicare Severity... -
BCCS Q&A
BCCS Q&A
Issue 10, October 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE
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Tips to help tackle MS-DRG challenges, new CC system
The change to the Medicare Severity DRG (MS-DRG) system brings with it a host of challenges-the... -
CMS Hospital Open Door Forum update
CMS hosted a conference call for hospitals August 23 to discuss several topics related to inpatient... -
Uncover your facility's most common CCs and MCCs
Coders' memory banks of their facilities' most common complications/comorbidities (CC) will have to... -
Let's get ICD-9 right before we move to ICD-10
There are some things in ICD-9-CM that are just plain wrong. Some of these problems evolved when...
Issue 9, September 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE
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CMS moves forward with MS-DRG system
As expected, CMS finalized its plans to move ahead with a new Medicare Severity (MS) DRG system and... -
CMS adopts one of five proposed quality measures for 2009
Collaborative approach could improve review process Now is the time for hospitals to refine... -
Consider the convenience of remote audits
When a vendor reviews inpatient and outpatient medical records to gauge the accuracy and quality of... -
Address the new Important Message delivery requirements
The rules for delivering the Important Message from Medicare went into effect on July 1, and now... -
Boost documentation improvement in the office
So far, my columns have aimed at the acute-care setting and how understanding of diseases and code...
Issue 8, August 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE
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ICD-9 revisions demand higher level of specificity
CMS announced the proposed FY 2008 ICD-9-CM code revisions in June, and the aim of the new codes is... -
Switch to MACs imminent in seven regions of country
The transition from fiscal intermediaries (FI) and carriers to Medicare administrative contractors... -
Make RAC-targeted DRGs a focus in your facility
Although most hospitals are aware of the recovery audit contractor (RAC) demonstration project... -
What do you do when docs use the wrong terms?
Terminology, semantics, alternative verbiage-the bane of a coder's existence! I had the... -
Coding Q&A
Sandy Sillman, RHIT, PAHM, DRG coordinator for Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, answered the...
Issue 7, July 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE
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Audit postacute transfers to ensure proper payment
CMS has edits in place to alert your facility when it inappropriately receives the full DRG payment... -
CMS discusses POA indicator, revised IPPS calculations
POA indicator The agency announced that it officially issued CR5499, CMS' instructions regarding... -
Tips to help tackle ongoing inpatient psych challenges
Inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPF) have their own reimbursement and compliance challenges... -
Coding Clinic advice for aborted stroke cases sparks debate
When a patient presents with an impending stroke and receives treatment to try to abort the stroke... -
Watch for 'complications of care' that didn't occur
Many of us have been hearing horror stories about the 2008 IPPS proposed rule. We might lose some... -
Coding Q&A
Coding Q&A
Issue 6, June 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE
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CMS overhauls DRGs, CCs in IPPS proposed rule
The IPPS proposed rule that CMS released April 13 would completely overhaul the current DRG system... -
Consider remote coding for your facility
HIM and coding departments strive to find a way for their coders to produce a high volume of work... -
CMS discusses IPPS proposed rule, therapy, and more
Editor's note: CMS hosted an Open Door Forum conference call for hospitals on April 19 to discuss... -
Survey shows mixed approach to doc improvement
Editor's note: The following article reports on the results of two HCPro, Inc., surveys that asked... -
Coding Q&A
Coding Q&A
Issue 5, May 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE
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Coding coronary artery stenosis marked by confusion
Unclear Coding Clinic advice regarding coronary artery stent stenosis has resulted in confusion... -
RAC program set to go national by 2010
The time to prepare is now CMS has announced that the recovery audit contractor (RAC) program... -
Communication essential to documentation improvement
Setting up a documentation improvement program is a lot of work. There are forms to develop... -
Make sure you measure the right data
There have been several changes recently in the coding and reimbursement world related to DRGs, ICD... -
Coding Q&A
Sandy Sillman, RHIT, PAHM, DRG, coordinator for Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, answered the...
Issue 4, April 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE
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Improve accuracy with clinically-minded coding
Prepare for changes like the POA indicator Coders are well-versed in the intricacies of the... -
Look into the severity DRG crystal ball
Coders may see changes for better and worse Although CMS is moving toward a severity-adjusted... -
Watch for these criteria before seeking clarification
Coding guidelines tell you to question certain documentation before assigning codes because a... -
Coding Q&A
The mission of Coding Q&A is to help you find answers to your urgent coding/compliance questions...
Issue 3, March 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE
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Look for the link when coding diabetes
Diabetes coding brings plenty of documentation challenges. Educate yourself on the condition's... -
Integrate new coders with customized education, review
The current lack of qualified coders means that facilities are more likely to hire inexperienced... -
Find the right incentive plan for your facility
Chances are your coding department relies on two or three workhorse coders to consistently shoulder... -
Listen to the medical record
Coders often become frustrated because the physician doesn't provide the information they need in...
Issue 2, February 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE
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Physician advisor can increase the accuracy of coding/quality data
Although coders are well-versed in the ICD-9-CM rules, they often have trouble decoding the... -
Create coding expectations based on goals, production
Each organization has fiscal management goals, and understanding these goals will guide HIM... -
Revisit queries to ensure correct coding, reimbursement
RAC focus, severity DRGs increase the importance of query management The physician query is a... -
Ongoing problems: Heart disease, mural thrombus, and more
Although most HIM professionals delight in a greater understanding of the clinical aspects of the...
Issue 1, January 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE
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Profiling data depend on documentation
You're probably aware that earning the appropriate reimbursement depends heavily on physician... -
POA indicator paves way for severity-adjusted DRGs
Although CMS is not fully rolling out a severity-adjusted (SA-DRG) system for fiscal year 2007, the... -
Seek specificity with sepsis codes
Coding sepsis is difficult due to vague and overlapping terms that denote various degrees of severe... -
Cardiomyopathy is rarely 425.4
The most commonly reported cause of cardiomyopathy (CMP) worldwide-all comers, all ages-is...