Hint: Don’t forget to review NCCI policies. During a surgical procedure or in the midst of a postoperative complication, physicians may have to control a patient’s bleeding. The variety of scenarios are endless as are the wide array of code [...]
Remember the Medicare rule. When your general surgeon must control bleeding either during a surgical procedure or due to a complication in the post-operative period, the wide array of code choices and varying payer rules can be a challenge. If [...]
Question: I’ve read several articles about researchers analyzing eye scans with AI to detect heart disease, diabetes, strokes, and high blood pressure. Are researchers using AI and eye scans to detect other conditions, as well? Florida Subscriber Answer: Researchers are exploring the [...]
Question: An 11-year-old patient undergoes primary tonsillectomy due to acute recurrent tonsillitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae. The ear, nose, and throat physician (ENT) treats the child in the office four days later for postoperative nasopharyngeal bleeding. What diagnosis and procedure [...]
Question: An 11-year-old patient undergoes primary tonsillectomy due to acute recurrent tonsillitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae. The ENT treats the child in the office four days later for postoperative nasopharyngeal bleeding. What diagnosis and procedure codes are reported? Alabama Subscriber [...]
Remember to check NCCI edits to avoid bundling pitfalls. Chances are, your otolaryngologist performs their fair share of tonsillectomies and adenoidectomies. When billing these surgeries, you must consider multiple factors — age, combination codes, bundling restrictions, possible post-op bleeding, etc. [...]
A Tulsa, Okla. hospice has agreed to pay $48,830.70 to resolve allegations that it submitted false claims to Medicare for hospice care provided to beneficiaries who did not qualify for the services. The settlement resolves charges that Evergreen Hospice LLC [...]
Sometimes, an E/M encounter may incorporate a repair. Coders need to know how to choose the right code when reporting a doctor’s repair of a nosebleed in an emergency department (ED) encounter. A nosebleed, also called epistaxis, is represented by [...]
Remember, the physician might stop nosebleed during E/M. When a patient reports to the ED with a nosebleed, coders will be presented with several choices when reporting the repair. The lowdown: Your provider could perform nosebleed (or epistaxis) repair that [...]
Question: Notes indicate that the patient had “charley horse l calf.” Are there any specific — or for that matter nonspecific — ICD-10 codes for “charley horses”? Illinois Subscriber Answer: Oddly enough, there is a diagnosis code for charley horse specific to [...]
