SKIN GRAFT EXCEPT FOR SKIN ULCER OR CELLULITIS WITH CC DRG Code 577

Here’s why you need to keep modifier 59 handy. Are you relying on global codes when your ob-gyn or hospital nursing staff performs a delivery? If so, you’re setting yourself up to make a costly mistake. Sometimes extenuating circumstances require [...]

If you ignore your HIPAA risks, expect to pay the price. Over the past year, HIPAA enforcement has been spotty at best. But the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) pulled no punches in November with a hat trick of [...]

Hint: Proposal would cause one practice in our sampling to lose $25,000 in a year. If your practice often complains about the limitations that the 1995 and 1997 E/M guidelines place on E/M coding, CMS may have delivered a gift [...]

Shift focus from chronicity to pathology identification. ICD-10 offers a variety of codes to choose from when reporting pancreatitis and its related conditions. You need not get overwhelmed by the number if you specifically follow the documentation of the pathology, [...]

Shift focus from chronicity to pathology identification.  ICD-10 offers a variety of codes to choose from when reporting pancreatitis and its related conditions. You need not get overwhelmed by the number if you specifically follow the documentation of the pathology, [...]

Make sure you distinguish cyst and pseudocyst. You needn’t be perplexed by the ICD-10 options for pancreatitis. All you need to do is specifically look for documentation of the pathology. There are also options when the condition isn’t specifically documented [...]

Make sure you distinguish cyst and pseudocyst. You needn’t be perplexed by the ICD-10 options for pancreatitis. All you need to do is specifically look for documentation of the pathology. There are also options when the condition isn’t specifically documented [...]

In Table 3 of the 2014 Home Health PPS Final Rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services lists the deleted codes most used in 2012. The top deleted codes used were: 1. 401.0 (Malignant essential hypertension), 34,207 episodes; 2. [...]

Bone up on OASIS accuracy to help soften the blow. Despite hearty protests from the industry, CMS has slashed 170 diagnosis codes from the prospective payment system case mix calculation for 2014. Get the Background on the Cuts Last summer, [...]

 Examine your claims to make sure you’re using these codes correctly.   In Table 3 of the 2014 Home Health PPS Final Rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services lists the deleted codes most used in 2012. The top deleted [...]