Question: Based on the pathology results, my provider has diagnosed a patient as having a grade 1 well-differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (PNET). Should I use C25.4 or C7A.098 for the diagnosis? AAPC Forum Participant Answer: Malignant neuroendocrine tumors are generally coded to [...]
More than a third of Texas agencies have entered their RCD choice so far. Pre-Claim Review should be a no-brainer for most home health agencies undergoing the Review Choice Demonstration, and the latest group of HHAs to make their selections [...]
Start by exploring catheter, genitourinary hemorrhage, and diagnostic imaging updates. October will bring the first official updates to ICD-10, but information about proposed changes has already been circulated. Thousands of additions, revisions, and deletions are in the latest file, though [...]
Sequencing is key to correct coding for dementia. ICD-10 will change some aspects of coding for your patients’ psychiatric conditions, while other best practices will remain the same. Give your skills a quick tune-up before Oct. 1 to make sure [...]
Physician Who Alters Medical Record Is Charged With Obstruction of Justice Ever wondered why following the regulations is of paramount importance when you’re amending a medical record? An Illinois physician found out the hard way, pleading guilty to obstruction of [...]
With up to $2,191 at stake, knowing your payer's rules is critical. Sticking to your carriers' preferred HCPCS code for reporting Lucentis, Avastin, and Macugen can net your practice from $50 to almost $2,200. Earlier, Ophthalmology Coding Alert explained the [...]
Carefully read the physician's notes to extract ICD-9 codes In the perfect coding world, our physicians would support the coders- efforts by providing CPT codes for all services rendered, properly document these services, and then link their procedures to supporting [...]
Have the telltale indications on hand with this clip-and-save list Children (and their parents) may present to the ED with explanations of injuries that don't add up. Refer to this handy list of abuse symptoms when something looks fishy. Physical [...]
Along with a 1.5 percent across-the-board payment increase, the 2005 Physician fee schedule will bring higher-than-anticipated reimbursement for several new laminoplasty codes. (See "Physician Payments Rise in 2005," Neurosurgery Coding Alert, January 2005 for more on how the fee schedule [...]
But new wound VAC codes won't bring in any reimbursement Medicare's 2005 Physician Fee Schedule rings in the new year with healthy relative value units (RVUs) for most new CPT codes. But if you were expecting debridement-quality payment for your [...]
