February may be American Heart Month, but correctly diagnosing and coding cardiac conditions requires healthcare professionals to work hard to get right 365 days a year. Outlining coding guidance for pulmonary hypertension – a rare condition that nonetheless can be particularly deadly, often because it is not diagnosed until it is in advanced stages. It […]
The updates to ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS that become effective April 1 were released in mid-January. The updates include 42 new diagnosis codes. The significant changes to the ICD-10-CM guidelines are the following: A.19 – Code Assignment and Clinical Criteria This section has added a new sentence: “If there is conflicting medical record documentation, query the […]
Not Coding the Highest Level When it comes to ICD-10 coding, a coder’s job is to code to the highest level of specificity. This means detailing and abstracting the most information out of the medical reports from the provider and taking accurate notes. It also means knowing the medical terminology for both procedures and diagnoses. […]
Don’t assume the codes you’ve been using to report drugs and biologicals still apply. The January 2023 update to the HCPCS Level II code file from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) includes 184 new codes for reporting services and supplies. Approximately 36 of the new codes were created to separately identify products […]
Erica Remer, MD, CCDS, a Member Board of Directors of American College of Physician Advisors, have been talking about improving the electronic medical record and making it more end-user-friendly. Today, she grouses about documentation in general. Her husband, who is a radiologist, and she were commiserating at how awful and uninformative provider documentation has become […]
Update your facility-specific guidelines accordingly for 2023. Although the new calendar year is not the beginning of the federal fiscal year, there are coding classifications and terminologies that changed on Jan. 1, 2023. Current Procedural Terminology® (CPT) and Healthcare Current Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) have releases that went out on Jan. 1. There are also […]
Question: Could you kindly provide us with the updated telehealth services codes for the year 2023? Response: Regarding Medicare Telehealth Services for the year 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are introducing fresh Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes to the compilation of Medicare telehealth services. More precisely, the subsequent HCPCS […]
It’s a New Year, and welcome, 2023! When I still practiced clinically, I once got a job as an emergency physician at a brand-new hospital. I was really excited, because I recognized the opportunity for our department to develop our own best-practice culture. I was hoping the staff would gel in an environment of cooperation, […]
A thorough understanding of the latest guidelines for coding evaluation and management services is necessary to ensure compliant claims. You’ve likely heard about the 2023 CPT® changes for reporting hospital inpatient and observation evaluation and management (E/M) services. AAPC has been preparing medical coders for these changes since they were announced and started offering education […]
Attendees at AAPC’s AUDITCON, Nov. 3-4, 2022, came loaded with questions about the coding and guideline changes for evaluation and management (E/M) services in CPT® 2023. The conference offered several sessions on the subject, including the ED session, “Changes in 2023: Emergency Department,” presented by AAPC Chief Product Officer. The officer provided a high-level overview […]