Introduction Heart disease, which includes coronary artery disease (CAD), is the leading cause of mortality in the U.S. To reduce the incidence of mortality, approximately 1.2 – 2 million cardiac stents are implanted each year worldwide. A cardiac stent or stents are deployed (inserted) into one or more affected cardiac arteries most commonly via a minimally invasive...
Spinal Cord Tumors: Reportable or Not?
Deciding whether a spinal cord tumor is reportable or not can be a daunting task for even experienced cancer registrars. The decision-making process used for correct case-finding must begin with an understanding of the anatomy, terms and definitions used, and how benign and malignant spinal cord tumors are classified. Spinal cord tumors are defined by their position...
Diagnostic vs. Routine Screening Colonoscopy
Read the first part of this blog, "Coverage for Medicare Colonoscopies" here. Average Risk Colonoscopy Average risk colonoscopy is defined as a test ordered in the absence of signs or symptoms or other evidence of illness, the physician interpreting the diagnostic test should report the reason of the test as the primary ICD-10 CM code. The results of the test, if any,...
Newborn Resuscitation and Accurate PCS Code Assignment
About 10% of neonates require some form of respiratory assistance at birth. To assign ICD-10-PCS ventilation codes correctly, it is important for Coding Professionals to understand the difference between invasive and noninvasive ventilation. An understanding of respiratory assistance given solely for the purposes of newborn resuscitation vs ongoing respiratory assistance...
Coverage For Medicare Colonoscopies
Colonoscopies are critical to our well being. How these important services are documented and coded is equally as important. Medicare covers screening colonoscopies every 24 months if the patient is at high risk for colon cancer or once every 120 months, or 48 months after a previous flexible sigmoidoscopy. No cost to the beneficiary for screening colonoscopies and the...
Building a Foundation for Inpatient Coding of Neoplasm
February is National Cancer Prevention Month which promotes taking personal action to lower your risks for cancer. These include making healthy lifestyle choices for diet, exercise, avoiding tobacco products, protection against the sun as well as getting recommended cancer screenings and vaccinating against certain viruses that can cause cancer (e.g., human papillomavirus...
Obstetrical Inpatient Diagnosis Coding - A Refresher
OBSTETRICAL INPATIENT DIAGNOSIS CODING – A REFRESHER Obstetrics is to coding as cats are to animal lovers, you either love or dislike that subset of coding (or the animal kingdom) and there's no in-between. Sometimes a refresher of the highlights related to obstetrical coding can be beneficial for ensuring accurate coding for this type of record or even re-ignite an...
