Home Health & Hospice Week
Use This Checklist To Help You Implement ICD-9 Changes
Fewer changes this year signal that ICD-10 preparations are under way. It's that time again. At the end of this week you'll have 122 new, deleted, or revised ICD-9 codes to master. Make sure you're ready with this handy preparation list. The ICD-9 code set gets updated each year, but this year brings fewer changes than usual. Coders aren't seeing as many updates to ICD-9 for 2011 because resources are focusing on ICD-10 preparation, says certified coder Joan L. Usher with JLU Health Record Systems in Pembroke, Mass. Come 2013, you'll have a whole new diagnosis coding system. To get ready for the 2011 ICD-9 changes effective Oct. 1, take the following steps: • Purchase a new 2011 ICD-9-CM coding manual. An updated manual is your most important tool in your quest for coding accuracy. • Update cheat sheets and destroy the old ones. Remember, it's better not to use cheat sheets at all because you may miss some intricacy of coding. But if you must use them, make sure they are accurate. • Make sure your information systems vendor has updated your system with the new codes. • Create a list of patients whose cases will require code changes and when they are due. • Train staff on how to use new ICD-9 codes or reinforce training you've already provided.
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Fraud & Abuse:
Take These 6 Steps To Prepare For ZPIC Audits
You can bet homebound status will be a vulnerable point. ZPIC audits are shutting down [...] - Audits:
Use These 7 Tips To Survive A ZPIC Audit
Hop on probe letters to avoid a full-blown audit. Like many home care providers nationwide, [...] - Policy:
MedPAC Sets Sights On Home Care -- Again
HHA, hospice, and DME prone to overutilization, fraud, and abuse, commission says. If you thought [...] - Diagnosis Coding:
Use This Checklist To Help You Implement ICD-9 Changes
Fewer changes this year signal that ICD-10 preparations are under way. It's that time again. [...] - Competitive Bidding:
Bidding Hearing Gives Suppliers Little Hope Of Delay
Jan. 1 implementation date for DME competitive bidding looms. Durable medical equipment suppliers hoping to [...] - Industry Notes:
New Legislation Takes Aim At Medicare Fraud
OIG powers would be expanded under bill. Congress' assault on fraud in the Medicare program [...] - Medicare Issues PECOS Enrollment Instructions For Ordering Docs.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is clearing one more obstacle from the path [...] - Guard Against Whistleblowers.
With all the new regulatory and payment burdens hitting home care providers, don't overlook an [...] - Schedule Around PECOS 'Dark Days'
You'd better reschedule any PECOSrelated work you have planned for this week. The Internet-based Provider [...] - Home Care Cuts Hurt Patients, Newspaper Says
States making big Medicaid cuts to home care are also making a big mistake. So [...] - OIG Blasts Suppliers' KX Modifier Claims
Another OIG report is projecting millions in Medicare overpayments for DME billed with the KX [...] - Keep Dates Straight Or Risk RAP Rejections
If you mix up the dates on your request for anticipated payment, you'll have to [...] - Payment Glitch Holds Up Palmetto Providers' Pay
If Palmetto is your Medicare contractor and you have claims suspending in status and location [...] - Stable Patients Equal Hospice Denials, Contractor Says
You'd better beef up documentation for your hospice patients whose conditions are holding steady, or [...]
