Current issue includes most frequently asked questions about coding COVID-19. The American Hospital Association (AHA) central office is the official United States clearinghouse on medical coding for the proper use of the ICD-10-CM/PCS systems and Level I HCPCS (CPT-4 codes) for hospital providers – and certain Level II HCPCS codes for hospitals, physicians,…
January 14, 2020
Looking at Possible ICD-10-CM Clinical Coding Challenges in 2020
Seven coding challenges reveal a new compliance landscape in 2020. It’s here: 2020! This past year in healthcare, as in many years before, was full of changes, challenges, and some surprises as well. When trying to foresee the key future challenges in clinical coding, the following topics came to mind…
November 19, 2019
Diabetic Kidney Disease and the Third Quarter Coding Clinic
A clinician’s perspective on the AHA’s third-quarter coding clinic. I spoke at the inaugural combined Oregon Health Information Management Association (OHIMA) and ACDIS conference in Albany, Ore. last week. One of the comments I hear often when I speak to coders involves how much they appreciate getting a clinician’s perspective.…
October 1, 2019
When Official Coding Guidelines Could be Confusing
Do your physicians and ancillary staff know the ICD-10-CM coding rules? Based on many years of personal experience, most physicians and ancillary staff who do not code really don’t know or understand the coding rules. This is not particularly surprising, because even the best coders are sometimes confused by the…
July 16, 2019
Coding Clinic Advice Highlights from Second Quarter
Guidance and advice effective with discharges occurring on and after June 21, 2019. The American Hospital Association (AHA) Coding Clinic for ICD-10-CM/PCS for the second quarter of 2019 was released last month, and there are some interesting topics and guidance within this volume (Volume 6, Number 2). Due to copyright restrictions,…
The author shares her thoughts on atrial fibrillation in the AHA Q2 Coding Clinic. I reviewed the Coding Clinic from Second Quarter and disagree with the reasoning for the first question regarding atrial fibrillation, although I do not have a problem with their solution. Fortunately, after October 2019, the advice…
Guidance and advice effective with discharges occurring on and after March 20, 2019. For coding and CDI (clinical documentation improvement/integrity) professionals, it’s exciting to read over the American Hospital Association (AHA) Coding Clinic on ICD-10-CM/PCS. This publication is a must-have document with must-follow guidance. Although ICD10 University held a webinar regarding…
April 16, 2019
Coding Clinic Offers Important Guidelines for Coding BMI
Body mass index is a heavy topic. Spring has arrived in the Northeast and people are getting back to their exercise schedules. I was thinking about this topic as I was reading Coding Clinic, Fourth Quarter 2018. One of the big topics in this issue is body mass index (BMI)…
October 30, 2018
Gangrene in Diabetics: Assume the Code?
Diabetes could be a contributing factor without being the direct cause. In the first article in this series, I compared pressure ulcers and diabetic foot ulcers (the latter are considered non-pressure chronic ulcers in ICD-10-CM). My conclusion was that there is significant overlap, but heel ulcers are prime candidates to…
October 23, 2018
ICD-10 Coding: Diabetic Foot Ulcer or Pressure Ulcer?
Even a podiatrist may not know for sure. When is a diabetic’s foot ulcer a pressure ulcer? When is a pressure ulcer a diabetic foot ulcer? These are the questions we are going to explore in this two-part series of articles elicited by my disgruntlement with the advice in the…
