Q:I was wondering what supporting evidence there is for the recommendation to go ahead and link hypertension (HTN) with heart failure as a combination code? The Official Guideline for Coding and Reporting as well as Coding Clinic for ICD-9-CM seems to...Read More »
Q: A consultant has advised us to code only diagnoses listed on the discharge summary. If the diagnosis is not on the discharge summary, the consultant instructed us to query the physician. How do other facilities handle these scenarios?
by Joel Moorhead, MD, PhD, CPC, and Diana Williams, BS, CPC, CCS-P, CPMA
The ICD-9 chapter-specific guidelines for neoplasms (Section 1.C.2) provides guidance for coding and sequencing of complications associated with malignancies. This section in the ICD-9-CM Manual ...Read More »
CDI specialists need to use all the tools available in their documentation training box to effectively change physician behavior. Educational sessions are helpful, particularly when followed by effective queries targeting the same educational issue. Combine this approach with e-mail newsletters...Read More »
Patients who survive sepsis infections face a long battle with cognitive and physical decline, according to research from University of Michigan Health System physicians that will be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) today, Oct. 27. Theodore "Jack"...Read More »
MS-DRG 432 (cirrhosis and alcoholic hepatitis with MCC) is one of many MS-DRGs slated for RAC validation audits by HealthDataInsights and Connolly Healthcare, two of the four RACs nationwide.
RACs may target this particular MS-DRG for a variety of reasons, says...Read More »
I often wondered how the ICD-9-CM code set would translate to ICD-10-CM/PCS in regards to MS-DRGs. I couldn’t fathom that along with the costly transition to a new code set, CMS would “double whammy” us by implementing a system...Read More »