It has been almost 30 years since evaluation and management (E/M) office visit documentation and coding has been changed. These changes take place beginning January 1st, 2021. The revised guidelines will improve documentation redundancy and support medical necessity. In the past, the code selection was based on 3 key elements (history, examination, and medical decision making (MDM)) or time spent face-to-face in counseling or coordination …
As we continue to feel the impact of COVID-19 in the United States and continue canceling meetings to avoid travel and risks of exposure, many families are also concerned about their loved ones currently going through cancer treatment. And many others are currently being diagnosed with cancer during this worldwide pandemic. The big question is how does this impact those hospitals with a Cancer Program? …
The current pandemic has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to take the unusual step of establishing a unique ICD-10 code for COVID-19 cases, U07.1 five months prior to the traditional U.S. implementation date for new codes. The use of the code became effective with April 1, 2020 discharges and was accompanied by updated coding guidance to the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting.1 Currently healthcare, the private sector, and the government are overwhelming concentrating on “flattening the curve” and …
What Does CMS Say? Congress passed wavier 1135 that states Medicare and other commercial carriers have temporarily expanded services for reimbursement on several telehealth services. Click here for list of covered services during this Public Health Emergency (PHE) due to COVID-19. For additional information on COVID-19, click here. CMS is now releasing News Alerts almost daily since March 31st. One initiative brought forward is Put Patients Over Paperwork. …
Making changes on the fly is never easy in any industry, especially healthcare – figuring out what platform to use, training staff and patients on how to operate video conferences, but more importantly, will you get paid? With the Corona Pandemic turning our revenue cycle upside-down due to the cancelling of most elective procedures, it’s more important than ever that …
In this environment it’s hard to know what tomorrow will bring. If you watch the news, all you’ll see is a lack of hospital beds and overwhelming patient volumes. Meanwhile, hospitals and clinics around the country are laying off staff because elective and non-emergent procedures have been cancelled to clear the decks for COVID patients. To add to the complexity, …
By Marianne Loeffler, COC, CPC, CPC-I, CRCR, MRA Charge Audit Validator Infusions & Injections are confusing – even on a good day. Facilities often leave money on the table – and a lot of it – simply because knowledge and resources may be limited. This article will briefly discuss the key elements to be aware of when reviewing documentation to …
By: Carrie Pfeifle, BS, RHIT | Coding Audit Manager @ MRA Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) is also known as Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI). Medicare officially refers to this as TAVR/TAVI, but either single acronym is correct. TAVR is a transcatheter surgical procedure in which an aortic valve replacement is performed without removing the damaged native valve. In simple …
The FY 2020 IPPS final rule was released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) on August 2, 2019.[1] Below are five highlights to be aware of regarding changes to ICD-10-CM, ICD-10-PCS, and corresponding official guidelines in FY 2020. ICD-10-CM[2] Effective October 1, 2019 there are 273 new ICD-10-CM codes, 21 deleted ICD-10-CM codes and 30 ICD-10-CM code title …
MRA and YES HIM Consulting have partnered to delivery coding education to healthcare organizations across the United States. For over 30 years, MRA is known for delivering operational efficiency, service excellence to organizational integration to Revenue Cycle, HIM, Compliance and Cancer Registry areas in healthcare organizations. YES HIM Consulting is a premier Health Information Management (HIM) auditing, coding, and education …