When ICD-10-CM is updated Oct. 1, so are these National Coverage Determinations. Are you wondering which National Coverage Determinations (NCDs) will be affected by the thousands of diagnosis code changes going into effect Oct. 1? Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) transmittal tells all. CMS Transmittal 11546, issued Aug. 4, is a one-time notification […]
Throughout the years in the health information management field, we’ve always been deeply interested in clinical coding and even find clinical coding to be fun. With that comes learning about the annual coding changes: new, revised and deleted codes. That brings us to the ICD-10-CM/PCS Coordination and Maintenance (C&M) Committee, how they work and the […]
What you need to know to avoid claim denials and to maximize practice revenue Despite your best efforts to follow billing guidelines, payers still deny your claims. Or in some cases, they pay you and then take the money back. Experts say you can’t ever eliminate denials and post-payment recoupment entirely, but you can reduce […]
During a typical office visit, physicians may provide evaluation and management (E/M) services, minor procedures and more. The question is: Can they bill for each one separately? In some cases, the answer is no. In others, though, the answer is yes — but they must know what current procedural terminology (CPT) modifier to append. Modifiers […]
When the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented the Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) as the new reimbursement method for skilled nursing facilities (SNF), some of us in the coding and auditing world thought it likely to result in inaccurate payments. The old model, the Resource Utilization Group—Version IV (RUGS-IV), calculated SNF reimbursement […]
Documenting a diagnosis in the health record extends beyond its impact on reimbursement and quality-of-care measures. It is also critical to patient safety. One of the more challenging aspects of the work as CDI professionals is physician engagement, which is why connecting the work to the patient level is so important. Many providers don’t want […]
Effective from discharges/visits on October 1, 2022, the 2023 Official Coding and Reporting Guidelines for ICD-10-CM have been established. On July 7, 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued MLN Connects, featuring an article focusing on long COVID. This article imparts guidance on coding practices for both long COVID and ongoing COVID […]
The reverberations of the 2021 evaluation and management (E/M) documentation guidelines have barely subsided, yet we are already on the verge of witnessing further changes in this segment of CPT® for 2023 – and this time, the implications stretch beyond mere office visits. If your healthcare institution conscientiously adopted the 2021 E/M guidelines, there’s no […]
The American Medical Association (AMA) has created three new CPT® codes to report the administration of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for patients 6 through 11 years. The new codes are effective June 17, 2022. Note These New Moderna Admin Codes For children ages 6 through 11 years, report the Moderna vaccine with existing CPT® code […]
The effective date for 0081A-0083A and 91308 is June 17, 2022. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for patients ages 6 months to 4 years. The new CPT® codes for reporting this vaccine are: 0081A Immunization administration by intramuscular injection of severe acute respiratory syndrome […]