Determining when to seek clarification regarding patients with altered mental status can be tricky business. Patients who already have established dementia and are now off their baseline with an acute metabolic disorder such as UTI, physicians are typically...Read More »
For providers, the days of earning full Medicare payment by simply submitting complete and accurate information are drawing to a close. In 2013, Medicare will begin paying healthcare providers and facilities based on the quality of care provided, not...Read More »
Q: For some reason, I was under the impression that a query could be answered by any healthcare provider, even one just doing a review of the case (a fellow hospitalist, for instance). I know that a treatment provider is, of course, the way to go but was wondering about this as...Read More »
Most coders know that reporting a complication of care requires that the medical record include explicit documentation of the relationship between the condition and the procedure. Previous versions of the ICD-9-CM guidelines include this requirement in Chapter 17 (Injury and Poisoning),...Read More »
Q: Should we query for the specific pulmonary exacerbation of cystic fibrosis (CF)? Coding Clinic states that the exacerbation of CF should be listed first.
A: ICD-9-CM codes for CF (i.e., 277.00-277.03) are combination codes. ICD-9-CM code 277....Read More »
Physicians in the ED setting must make observations and determinations rapidly. Differential diagnoses often precede hospital admission. Sometimes all you have are symptoms, but you know the patient is very sick. Sometimes you know exactly what that sickness...Read More »
Q:A patient with a long history of Type I diabetes is admitted after a syncopal episode. Urine culture grows greater than 100,000 E. coli, and the physician documents a diagnosis of urinary tract infection (UTI) treated with PO Bactrim. If the physician documents the...Read More »
