Q: I was interested in further discussion about cystic fibrosis coding. I am conducting an audit on MS-DRGs 177, 178, and 179, Respiration infections and inflammation with MCC...Read More »
ACDIS Associate Editorial Director Linnea Archibald sends out “missed connections” emails with questions from Council members on a regular basis. Anyone with experience related to one of the questions was invited to respond and Archibald connected them with the question-asker. In order to share...Read More »
What is the correct principal diagnosis in the following case? A 59-year-old male with history of (h/o)bladder cancer and failure to follow up was admitted for video-assisted thoracic surgery (VAT) for pulmonary nodules found on imaging. The patient had the VAT procedure and a pulmonary wedge...Read More »
Q: I have a question regarding sequencing. I would usually have sequenced 428.21 (heart failure) as principal diagnosis, but I was advised by my inpatient coder that she would sequence 404.91 (Unspecified hypertensive heart and renal disease with heart failure) as the principal...Read More »
Q:Our CDI program is three years old and our administration still questions our productivity goals. Initially we set benchmarks at 90-95% coverage rate of Medicare/Managed Medicare; 20-25% query rate; 90% response rate and 80% agree rate. Since census varies, we also...Read More »
Q: Is it okay to include a definition of “functional quadriplegia” when we query the physician for this condition? I was surprised when I approached a physician to discuss this diagnosis and he had not heard of it. However, when I gave him the definition, he agreed with it and...Read More »
Q:My question has to do with coding guidelines regarding secondary diagnosis followed by contrasting/comparative diagnoses. Let me explain a particular scenario. This was a two-day stay over the weekend. The patient was admitted for further evaluation with a history and...Read More »
