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March 1, 2020 / By Karla VonEschen, MS, CPC, CPMA
At this point in my life, many individuals I know have been touched by cancer in one way or another. Since March is colorectal cancer month, this seemed like an […]
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Feb. 12, 2020 / By Pam Banning
Wuhan, the capital of Central China’s Hubei province, is under siege. Hundreds of thousands of people are being screened for fever and observable signs of illness at travel junctures. Nearby […]
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Oct. 4, 2019 / By Cecilia Charles, RHIA
The summer months have passed us by and autumn is here which means flu and cold season is upon us. But wait, we are just beginning to heal from the […]
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July 26, 2019 / By Karla VonEschen, MS, CPC, CPMA
After attending an AAPC presentation last year, I published a blog about HCC coding. Since then, I have continued to dive into the world of HCCs. To follow up on […]
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May 22, 2019 / By Michael Malohifo’ou, RN, MBA, PhD
Diagnostic exams are an important way for hospitals and health systems to capture more complete, longitudinal patient information. Complete coding of diagnostic exams supports population health management and HCC reporting. […]
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May 20, 2019 / By Barbara Aubry, RN
Oh great—more new modifiers! If you’re like me, I read my CMS updates and focus on what needs to be managed based on regulatory deadlines. Back in 2016, I read […]
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March 25, 2019 / By Pamela Ewing, CPC
What is Parkinson’s disease? It is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects predominately dopamine-producing (“dopaminergic”) neurons in a specific area of the brain called the substantia nigra. The substantia nigra cells […]
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Nov. 9, 2018 / By Kelly Long, BS, CPC, CPCO, CAPM
I have encountered many physician practices and facilities in my role as coding analyst that are often stumped on the actual language needed to support specific ICD-10 codes for abdominal […]
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Nov. 20, 2017 / By Divya Verma, RHIA
When 2018 ICD-10 codes were implemented this October 1, I hoped that ICD-10 related Local Coverage Determination (LCD) updates would be fewer as compared to last year’s updates. Due to […]
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Oct. 20, 2017 / By Rhonda Butler
In my last blog, I talked about the trade-offs between lumping and splitting as they apply to the annual update of the ICD-10-CM/PCS classification systems. This time I am going […]
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Sept. 20, 2017 / By Rhonda Butler
You may have heard the terms lumping and splitting applied to medical records coding, or maybe to the analysis of coded data. Whether we’re producing coded data or analyzing it, […]
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July 28, 2016 / By Sue Belley, RHIA
CHALLENGE QUESTION A 72-year-old male presented to the Same Day Surgery unit of a local hospital for an aortogram with bilateral lower extremity run-off to investigate the feasibility of an […]