Q: My facility is discussing querying advanced practice providers (APP). Does ACDIS have any official opinion on this? To clarify, the APPs are licensed providers (nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, physician assistants, etc., or residents/limited license). I am of the opinion that...Read More »
by Richard Pinson, MD, FACP, CCS, and Cynthia Tang, RHIA, CCS COPD and Pneumonia
The requirement for code J44.0 (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with acute lower respiratory infection) to be coded first when a patient has pneumonia and COPD has been...Read More »
By Allen Frady, RN-BSN, CCDS, CCS, CRC
On October 1, 845+ codes took effect thanks to the fiscal year 2018 IPPS Final Rule, which was released at the beginning of August. As you review the updates, additions, and deletions in this year’s rule, I wanted to answer some of your...Read More »
No, we don’t mean the common table spice. The Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER) is distributed by TMF Health Quality Institute under contract with CMS and summarizes facility-specific data statistics for Medicare services that may be at risk for improper payments...Read More »
All short-term acute care facilities earn reimbursement from Medicare according to the inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS), right? And all outpatient facilities obtain reimbursement according to the rules in the outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS), correct?
Every year during the third week of September, ACDIS celebrates CDI Week. This year’s festivities took place September 17–22 with the theme of “The Wild West: New Frontiers in CDI.” This year’s theme, chosen by the ACDIS members through a poll, aimed to represent the many ways the CDI profession...Read More »
by Trey La Charité, MD, FACP, SFHM, CCS, CCDS
Unfortunately, I have heard horror stories through the years where a hospital’s CDI specialists do not see eye-to-eye with their colleagues in coding; sometimes, though rarely, I’ve even heard of open hostility between these two...Read More »
By Candace Blankenship, BSN, RN, CCDS
Sometimes I have a dream where every physician has completely and accurately documented the condition of congestive heart failure (CHF) in every record I review.
Then my alarm clock goes off. It’s time for me to get up, get dressed, go...Read More »