# home health coding



## mguerrero9

Anyone know anything about home health coding? I was blessed and got this job without having any prior experience in coding so its a little difficult.


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## shellee51@aol.com

does anyone bill for the care plan oversight that the doctor performs for home health patients. We have billed to Medicare but continually are denied and the home health agencies keep telling us we should be paid. Not sure what we're doing wrong and have read the guidelines til I'm blue in the face


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## tdml97@yahoo.com

OK

For Home Health Certs - you have 2 codes: G0180 for initial & G0179 for re-eval

You can bill these a few different ways depending on your system.

They span for 2 months - sample: 01/01/11 -- 02/28/11 (initial)
                                                  03/01/11 -- 04/30/11 (re-eval)

What kind of denials are you getting??????


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## Alicia Scott

*I was a HH coder*

Great job getting a position in home health. Unlike coding for a physician home health is an entirely different ball game. You are coding off the Oasis more or less. You have access to the discharge reports and often they will have the codes there for you but of course you need to code only what the nurse is seeing the patient for during that episode. Treatment being done for say lumbago and the patient is getting PT and is also diabetic means you don't code the DM because that is not related to the lumbago treatment. If the patient has a wound on the foot then you code the wound and the DM because it relates to the condition. 

The key to home health is knowing the Oasis and the treatment the nurse plans for the patient. Showing the need and putting the codes in the right order is very important. Read everything you can about home health coding. You need to network with other home health coders. There are tips they can give you. You are fortunate to be a home health coder and not have to be an RN as well. Most agencies want both because you need to be an RN or PT to complete the Oasis for Medicare. 

As of yet the AAPC does not offer a certification for home health but they are out there. If you locate who is offering this you can most likely get some webinars on home health coding as well. 

Best of luck. I really enjoyed my time as a HH coder.
Alicia Scott, CPC


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## mguerrero9

Thank you alicia


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## keke74

Hello, I don't have any experience as a Home health Coder, but I do know of a website that may be helpful to you and they offer Certification for this particular specialty. Visit http://www.medicalspecialtycoding.com. Hope this helps!!


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## Alicia Scott

*That is it*

That is the website I was thinking of. It had been a while since I had been on the site and had forgotten the name. A few years ago I found this site and did some research. Everything I found at the time was positive. It might be a good place to network for HH coders.


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## keke74

Other than the medical specialty coding website I provided, you may also want to try Ingenix website, they have Coding manuals specific to Home Health Coding as well. I hope this helps also!!!


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## Alicia Scott

*Good advice*

Yes, that is where the agency I worked for got their manuals. Does make a difference.


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## vipmcllc

Alicia Scott said:


> Yes, that is where the agency I worked for got their manuals. Does make a difference.



Hi Alicia,

Can you recommend a good and inexpensive software to use for home healthcare?
Please email me at info@imbilling.net.

Thanks a lot!

Joanne


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## tuhin.b@optum.com

*Looking for Home Coding Jobs*

Hi

I am looking for Home Coding job.....!!!


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## Thoffman

*Home Care Coding*

I too have been blessed to get a position coding Home Care.  It is a challenge and I would love to have a book or take a class so I understand the basics better.   I have ordered some books from Decision Health, as I have not been able to find any through the AAPC.  If anyone out there has any suggestion for learning home care coding, I would relish the information.
Thank you.



mguerrero9 said:


> Anyone know anything about home health coding? I was blessed and got this job without having any prior experience in coding so its a little difficult.


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