Federal approval of the Pfizer vaccine, believed to be better than 90 percent effective, could occur before the end of the month. When the long-awaited and much-anticipated COVID-19 vaccine becomes available in the U.S., a development that could take place before the end of the year, a set of new Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) codes […]
Cold antibody hemolytic anemia is a rare autoimmune disorder characterized by the premature destruction of red blood cells by autoantibodies at temperatures of approximately 0 to 10 degrees Celsius. Q: What is the difference between cold, hot, and mixed type autoimmune hemolytic anemia, as described by 2021 ICD-10-CM codes D59.11-D59.13? A: ICD-10-CM code category D59.- (acquired […]
Accurate diagnosis coding is crucial for medical billing, as it narrates the patient’s healthcare journey. Patients often present with multiple conditions, requiring coders to select and sequence the most specific codes. This sequencing, or code arrangement, is vital for correct billing. This discussion highlights five key terms from the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and […]
The World Health Organization (WHO) updates ICD codes every 10 years to improve clinical use and acknowledge innovations in healthcare. After the tumultuous transition to the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases, simply mentioning the phrase “ICD-11” is liable to strike fear in the hearts of revenue cycle professionals and healthcare providers across […]
One billion dollars is a big number, but more astounding to me, as it pertains to a recent finding by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG), was that hospitals were found to have incorrectly documented and/or coded severe malnutrition 86.5 percent of the time (173/200)! That’s […]
February is the month of love, where every valentine will wait to celebrate and every single will wait to became a couple. In this day will anybody think about the medical billing and medical coding, absolutely not? However you need to be prepared for all sweet happening and mishaps for Valentine’s Day in 2025. No […]
Coronavirus is spreading. As of Jan. 27, eight cases of a novel coronavirus (2019-nCor) have been reported in the United States. The outbreak that started in Wuhan, China has spread to four states – Washington, California, Arizona, and Illinois. In China, there are close to 2,000 cases that have been confirmed, with 56 deaths. Cases […]
New patient evaluation and management (E/M) claims are being denied when the patient was previously seen by a specialty physician assistant or specialty nurse practitioner on staff. This is happening when another provider of a different specialty in the same multi-specialty group sees the patient for the first time and bills a new patient E/M […]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has taken steps to overhaul codes used for Evaluation and Management (EM) office visit codes. The initiative aims to reduce documentation burdens that interfere with patient care, the American Medical Association says. The professional organization for the nation’s physicians is providing a series of educational materials to support […]
Q: There seems to be a trend of practices using a variety of staff as ‘educators’ to provide patient education. The more recent ‘twist’ is the billing of E&M codes for non-physician providers, based in either clinical documentation or time-based, under the ‘incident to” provision – even though the physician does not see the patient for these […]