Q:We recently had a patient who was admitted with sepsis POA and a UTI. When the chart was coded, UTI was listed as the principal diagnosis. I was under the impression that when sepsis is POA, it should always be coded as the...Read More »
Q:Often, we get caught up on some clinical indicators that potentially introduce encephalopathy, for example, if patient has vascular dementia or other structural issues that might contribute to encephalopathy. Can you help...Read More »
Ever wonder how your CDI program ranks in terms of physician query responses? Wondering if your facility is the only one that struggles to reduce the number of doctors who habitually answer “unable to determine” as a means to bypass supporting CDI?Read More »
Q: What is the difference between ICD-10-CM code I24.8 (other forms of acute ischemic heart disease) and code I21.A1 (myocardial infarction type 2)? In which situation would each of these codes be reported? Read More »
Q:The coders at our facility recently asked CDI to teach the providers to write EtOH use “disorder” or cocaine use “disorder,” so that they can code it to EtOH abuse and cocaine abuse. Do you agree with this request from the...Read More »
Q:Our neurologist often documents encephalopathy for many of our patients. If an elderly patient came in with altered mental status (AMS), delirium, and has baseline dementia, can we code encephalopathy? What if the physician...Read More »
Mary Beth Bumbarger, RHIA, CHDA, CCS, will present “Mortality Measures Optimization: Getting to Know the Data,” on Day 2 of the ACDIS conference. Bumbarger is the director of the health information and quality management at the Brundage Group. ...Read More »
Q:We use the pre-bill reconciliation process at the time of coding and are trying to determine the true CDI/coding match rate. If the CDI specialist doesn’t enter the queried diagnosis in their working DRG but the physician...Read More »
