Q: I am unsure how “ribs” are categorized in ICD-10. I don’t understand if taking one rib is considered a resection or an excision and why. The coder coded the following record to total ostectomy-rib. If you crosswalk the ICD-9-CM Level 3 code to ICD-10-PCS, it maps to a resection. I...Read More »
I realize that many of the faithful members of ACDIS are, indeed, coders, but most of us have a nursing background, so I’m going to give my two-cents on the coding/CDI specialist relationships from a nursing perspective and hope that...Read More »
Well, it’s happened again. Because of inappropriate definitions of new disease codes, Medicare could take a massive hit financially and get into...Read More »
Documentation is central to accurate coding and reimbursement. It justifies treatment, supports the diagnosis, and captures patient severity and acuity. None of that comes as a surprise to coders, who often have to deal with documentation shortcomings.
Q:Some of our physicians have started documenting “aspiration without pneumonia.” When I questioned one of them about it, he said the patient had acid pulmonary syndrome/Mendelson’s syndrome. When I told the physician that this condition maps to the code for pneumonia,...Read More »
Many CDI specialists don’t spend a lot of time working with obstetric (OB) records, or may even ignore them altogether, principally because of the ICD-9-CM Chapter 11 coding guideline that basically says that pregnancy overrides...Read More »
The length of stay (LOS) for coronary artery bypass graft patients and valve replacement patients at York Hospital (YH)/ Wellspan Health was significantly higher than the Medicare geometric mean length of stay (GMLOS) according to results of a record...Read More »
