Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

Bonus: This summary can put you 1 CEU closer to reaching requirements

If you-re a Certified Professional Coder (CPC) through the American Academy of Professional Coders, you know that each year you have to continue enhancing your coding knowledge by obtaining continuing educational units (CEUs).

Problem: With the demands of a job in coding, gathering those CEUs isn't always an easy task. Attending seminars, audio conferences and live conferences is a great way to earn CEUs, but it isn't always practical due to time and budget constraints.

Good news: You can use Neurology Coding Alert to quickly and easily earn CEU credits.
 
-Using the Coding Alert articles is a great source for getting CEUs,- says Wendy Willes, head of the CEUs/Member Services department of the AAPC. -It encourages coders to read the articles that are so informative to their career and specialty. If they are subscribing to the Coding Alert, they will not only get information pertaining to their career but will also be able to obtain CEUs at the same time.-

How it works: Look for key words in Coding Alert articles such as -example,- -scenario- and -op report,- says Erin Lang Bonin, PhD, CPC, editorial director at Eli Research. -I look for those sorts of words and often find ready-made scenarios I can use to earn my CEUs,- she says.

Then simply add these bullets or scenarios to your reference guide and submit them to the AAPC for one ready-to-go CEU credit (per scenario).

Example Summary:
Newsletter -- Neurology Coding Alert

The primary diagnosis code you list on your claim normally represents the main reason for the encounter, or the condition with the highest risk of morbidity or mortality that the physician addresses. But this changes when your neurologist deals with a condition like diabetes -- and sees the patient for a complication related to the diabetes, such as diabetic neuropathy.

ICD-9 guidelines state that you can report more than one code from category 250.x (Diabetes mellitus) to fully describe the patient's condition if he has -more than one manifestation of the disease.- Because of this, you should report 250.6x (Diabetes with neurological manifestations) as the patient's primary diagnosis (with the fifth digit reflecting the type of diabetes). Your secondary diagnosis should reflect the specific neurological manifestation, such as 357.2 (Polyneuropathy in diabetes).

(See also -Follow 2 FAQs -- With Expert Answers -- to Find the Best Diagnosis- in the April 2007 Neurology Coding Alert.)