Fetus or newborn affected by maternal complications of pregnancy (761)

Question: Should I code for corrected gastroschisis when the patient comes in complaining of stomach pain? Washington Subscriber Answer: Whether you report Z87.761 (Personal history of (corrected) gastroschisis) depends on whether the physician connected the gastroschisis with the presenting problem. Many congenital [...]

And see what to do when a child is exposed to COVID-19 in utero. It’s not always clear when and whether to code congenital conditions. The conditions themselves range in complexity and likelihood to recur. Some are uncommon and therefore [...]

Question: One of our providers recently saw a teenaged patient who was complaining of stomach pain. The patient’s record shows he had gastroschisis as an infant, which was corrected. The doctor did not highlight this detail in the notes from the [...]

Hint: Some otherwise familiar codes may require an additional character come Oct. 1. Pediatric coders don’t have to worry about many of the almost 1,100 new diagnosis codes going into effect Oct. 1, 2022. But there are a handful that [...]

And find out which familiar codes now require an additional character. Of the almost 1,500 proposed coding changes to ICD-10-CM, more than 1,100 are new diagnosis codes for 2023. Luckily, pediatric coders won’t have to digest quite that many, but [...]

Plus: Hospitals are skirting proration for HH discharges, OIG accuses. If you think including discharges to hospice in Medicare’s proration policy for hospital discharges is adversely affecting hospice referrals, an influential advisory body to Congress does not agree. Reminder: The [...]

Project reached 1.7 million people last year. The fanfare over the Senior Medicare Patrol has died down since the program’s debut in 1997, but the fraud-fighting initiative is still going strong — and racking up millions in related recoveries. In [...]

Start with 29888, but check global package and add-ons for your most complete claim. With football season in full swing, your orthopedic surgeon will probably treat some weekend warrior injuries — especially for Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) damage. Good news: [...]

Aggressive care also needed. A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine focused on hospices’ linking with nursing homes to provide aggressive care and its impact on Medicare costs. Researchers led by Dr. Pedro Gozalo of Brown University compared the costs for nursing [...]

Hospice reduces hospital admissions and aggressive care, though. Hospice services furnished in nursing homes got another knock, this time by a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers led by Dr. Pedro Gozalo of Brown University [...]