Category: Blog

What is the HIPAA Security Rule?

What is the HIPAA Security Rule?

The HIPAA Security Rule requires covered entities and business associates to implement technical, physical, and administrative safeguards. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) required the HHS secretary to develop rules for safeguarding electronic protected health information (ePHI). Out of these requirements, HHS created the HIPAA Privacy Rule and the HIPAA Security […]
Preventive Medicine Versus E&M Codes

Preventive Medicine Versus E&M Codes

Choosing a proper office visit code can become confusing unless one understands the rules separating preventive medicine and evaluation and management (E&M) coding. Problem-oriented E&M services, office, and other outpatient visit codes 99202-99215 (along with hospital, observation, and consultative encounters) are for patients who present with signs, symptoms, conditions, diagnoses and/or problems that need to […]
Don’t Overlook These New PLA Codes

Don’t Overlook These New PLA Codes

A quarterly update for the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS), issued May 4, includes nine new CPT® codes for proprietary laboratory analyses (PLAs). Medical coding and billing staff that process claims for lab testing should be aware of these codes and pricing. 9 New PLA Codes The following PLA (type of service 5) codes are […]
How to Build ICD-10-PCS Codes From Op Reports

How to Build ICD-10-PCS Codes From Op Reports

Arrive at the correct procedure code by breaking down the operative report. Even seasoned coding professionals occasionally find it challenging to assign the appropriate ICD-10-PCS codes from the operative report. Mastering the procedural coding system used in the inpatient hospital setting takes practice. Medical coders reporting inpatient services should start by reading the operative report, […]
Barostim Heart Failure Treatment: Coding Training

Barostim Heart Failure Treatment: Coding Training

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has begun covering a portion of the device cost for Barostim Neo, a neuromodulation device for treating chronic heart failure. In late 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it would begin covering a substantial portion of the cost of implantable heart failure […]
What’s driving the transition to value-based care?

What’s driving the transition to value-based care?

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us it’s possible for the health care system to transform care delivery—and quickly. We saw vaccines come to market in record time, heightened cross-industry collaboration to track vaccine statuses, and virtual care use surge. Similarly, the pandemic demonstrated that value-based care delivery models, where payment is based on outcomes versus […]
Get to the Heart of Coding TAVR

Get to the Heart of Coding TAVR

Solidify your understanding of aortic valve disease and how to report this life-changing treatment. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a minimally invasive cardiac procedure to replace a diseased aortic valve in a person’s heart. The most common reason to undergo TAVR is aortic stenosis, which is an abnormal narrowing of the aortic valve opening […]