So You Were a Procrastinator…Now How Do You Prepare for ICD-10?
As I watched the votes for the SGR, the battles leading up to the votes, and the lobbying efforts from all sides, my head spun. And then I thought, if my head was spinning, how do all the physicians...
View ArticleTake Back Your Time: Reviewing Process Flow Improvement
By Rhonda Buckholtz, CPC, CPMA, CPC-I, CENTC, CGSC, COBGC, CPEDC Every day we are pulled from our desks to handle issues and drama that manage to become time suckers. These drains on our time can be...
View ArticleICD-10: Food for Thought
I am the president and owner of a healthcare consulting company assisting medical organizations with a range of compliance and reimbursement related matters, including ICD-10 implementation and...
View ArticleICD-10 Implementation Strategies
We will be sharing a number of strategies to help your practice successfully implement ICD-10-CM. Please remember to track your progress in your ICD-10 Implementation Tracker on AAPC’s website. Vendor...
View ArticleCMS Says 2nd I-10 End-to-End Testing a Success
By Brad Ericson, MPC, CPC, COSC The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is crowing about what it says was another successful ICD-10 end-to-end testing, April 27 through May 1. The...
View ArticleHouse Bill Asks for Two-Year Grace Period
A proposed bill by Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala) aims at creating a two-year grace period in which healthcare providers cannot be denied payment of services for ICD-10 related errors. The bill, Protecting...
View ArticleCMS’ Second End-to-End Testing Week a Success
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) held its second end-to-end testing week April 27 through May 1, with participation by all Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) and the...
View ArticleICD-10 Coding Snapshot
EXAM: Left Heart Catheterization REASON FOR EXAM: Increasing unstable angina, coronary artery disease, prior bypass surgery. INTERPRETATION: The procedure and complications were explained to the...
View ArticleICD-10: Dual Coding
Our members tell us that one of the best ways to prepare for the coming of ICD-10, after they have been trained on the code set, is dual coding. Each practice must see how to best work it into their...
View ArticleAMA, CMS Work Together to Prepare for ICD-10
The American Medical Association (AMA) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a joint effort to train providers for the October 1, 2015 implementation of ICD-10 via press...
View ArticleWhy You Still Need to be Prepared for ICD-10 on Oct. 1
By Rhonda Buckholtz, CPC, CPMA, CPC-I, CENTC, CGSC, COBGC, CPEDC For those breathing a sigh of relief in hopes of not having to be prepared based on the recent release from CMS and AMA need to take a...
View ArticleCMS Clarifies Post Implementation Rules
A few days after the American Medical Association (AMA) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a compromise regarding ICD-10 implementation, CMS published a short Q&A...
View ArticleICD-10 White Paper Helps Transition
AAPC’s ICD-10 White Paper, “ICD-10: The History, Impact, and Keys to Success,” is now available at no cost for members and non-members staring down the implementation of the new code set October 1....
View Article“Families” of Diagnoses
By Jeanne Yoder, RHIA, CPC, CPC-I, CCS-P What is a diagnosis ‘family?’ More than one coder was wondering this when they saw: What happens if I use the wrong ICD-10 code, will my claim be denied? While...
View ArticleICD-10 In the News: CMS Clarifies Questions Regarding ICD-10 Flexibilities
CMS and the AMA stated, July 6, that they are making joint efforts to help the provider community get ready for ICD-10. This statement included guidance from CMS allowing for flexibility in the claims...
View ArticleICD-10: Coding Snapshot
Description: Skin biopsy was performed on the right ankle and right thigh on two suspicious skin lesions. The complications, instructions as to how the procedure will be performed, and postoperative...
View ArticleICD-10 Implementation Strategies
We will be sharing a number of strategies to help your practice successfully implement ICD-10-CM. Please remember to track your progress in your ICD-10 Implementation Tracker on AAPC’s website....
View ArticleLooking Forward to the Future… Which Begins Oct. 1, 2015
By: Betty B. Bibbins, MD, BSN, CHC, CI-CDI, CPEHR, CPHIT We are approximately one month away from implementation of ICD10. Finally! Documentation specificity has been needed for many years throughout...
View ArticleHome Health Episodes Spanning Oct. 1 Get CMS Guidance
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has addressed Home Health (HH) providers’ anxieties about how to convert to ICD-1o if a patient’s episode of care spans October 1, starting with...
View ArticleICD Diagnoses and Procedures are Changing. Not CPT or HCPCS
By Jeanne Yoder, RHIA, CPC, CPC-I, CCS-P Professional Components of Procedures What is changing with CPT on 1 Oct 2015? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Save for the annual updates, CPT and HCPCS Level...
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