lillianivy
Networker
I know the coding guidelines state that a pt is considered History of Cancer once they are no longer receiving treatment and there is no evidence of disease. A pt with colon cancer will keep their port in for 2 years after treatment is completed in case there is a recurrence. To a physician the pt is not considered History of until at least 5-10 years out with no recurrence. So this is where the coding and the clinical world clashes. Do we code by what the doctor wants? Not History of until they say? Or do we code strictly by our guidelines and make it history of since the scans show no evidence of disease and pt no longer receiving treatment. The problem is that with the EMR system we use it pulls the codes with description on the pt's office note and the doctors do not like seeing the History of on it, because they feel the pt is not considered history of. Plus they are worried if this would affect the way they treat them because they are to follow certain guidelines about how often they see the pt and have them retested. I need clarification and others insight on this.
Thank you,
Lydia
Thank you,
Lydia