AMPUTATION OF LOWER LIMB FOR ENDOCRINE, NUTRITIONAL AND METABOLIC DISORDERS WITH CC DRG Code 617

CMS is realizing that facility self-reporting may not be the best option for monitoring data. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has relied on information recorded in the Minimum Data Set (MDS) to monitor the use of certain [...]

Tip: Don’t ignore your risk analysis recommendations. If you fail to fix your HIPAA issues, you may find the feds knocking on your front door. A recent case illustrates that repeat offenders will have to answer the call and pay [...]

Get to know how these new CMS proposed rules might affect your practice. Fee schedule changes to most evaluation and management (E/M) services have been relatively safe from CMS intervention over the past few years. As for 2019, however, it’s [...]

Hint: Proposal causes one pulmonary practice in our sample to lose $93,000 in one year. Pulmonology practices have been able to rest easy during the past few years’ worth of fee schedule changes, but this year may have thrown a [...]

Nearly half of nation’s HHAs will be under PCR by January. The heavy burden of Medicare’s new preclaim review demonstration is going to slam into home health agencies in the first demo state Aug. 1, while they are still scrambling [...]

Symptoms, not infertility, may help your initial visit claim pass muster. Don’t settle for infertility visit denials when a patient presents to your practice complaining she is unable to get pregnant. Focusing on symptoms rather than 628.9 (Infertility female of [...]

Bundles aren't always 'hard and fast.' With six "ovary" listings and five bundling references in CPT® surgical pathology codes, not to mention a host of ICD9 options, you have a lot of choices to make when coding your pathologist's ovary [...]

Give your coding a boost by tying code digits to actual structures.When your radiologist interprets imaging of the female reproductive system, your ability to identify the body part involved will sharpen your coding.Use the anatomic illustration below to locate the [...]

New fifth digit requirements change your old-standby NOS codes. Before you finalize your ICD-9 2012 update list, be sure you catch these late additions to the lineup for chest and shoulder conditions. Background: Although coders get a sneak peek at [...]

Question: We sometimes have pathology reports for hysterectomy with a pre-op diagnosis of uterine prolapse. If the pathologist's findings indicate other pathology, such as leiomyomas or adenomas, should we report 88305 for the prolapse, or choose a different procedure code [...]