After all this time, functional quadriplegia is still a dysfunctional medical diagnosis. Around this time in 2008, the Patriots’ perfect season was soon to be ended by the Giants in Super Bowl XLII, and Patrick Swayze would be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. By the end of the year we would…

So, how are we physicians coping with denials?  Despite the many apocalyptic predictions regarding the ICD-10 transition, for healthcare organizations and the nation, ICD-10 has moved along rather swiftly to date. By now, most of us have seen the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) October statement, which noted…

Chiropractors use many of the same diagnosis codes as other providers that treat conditions of the nervous system, skeletal system, and muscular system. However, there is one diagnosis that’s unique to chiropractic doctors. It is the so-called vertebral “subluxation.” It is the diagnosis that justifies the performance of a chiropractic…

If you don’t read anything else this holiday season, read this. Documentation improvement is at the heart of any successful ICD-10 coding program, and in this article I will highlight eight key areas of focus about ICD-10 and clinical documentation improvement (CDI).

Here are some lessons learned over the last year as we have prepared for an organization-wide approach to implementing ICD-10 across a very large health system in San Diego. There are three specific areas that should be considered when  implementing a new coding process for hospice programs, which went into…

During recent months I have heard many references to Oct. 1 and ICD-10, but there have been fewer than expected following implementation of the new coding set. I was pleasantly surprised by the quiet. It was a good feeling, a feeling of accomplishment, knowing that all of us in the…

Although ICD-10 implementation has gone amazingly well, there are specialty-specific challenges arising for some practices and groups. For example, orthopedics has an incredibly large list of extremely specific codes. That can be very frustrating for physicians who must treat patients when it is not their primary or only specialty, and they may…

After two months of working full-time with ICD-10-CM/PCS, what do we know about the success of providers’ transition efforts? In general, it’s too early to tell. It will likely be 90 to 120 days from implementation before we have solid revenue cycle data to determine the financial impact of ICD-10.…

Under ICD-10, submitting compliant and accurate claims and minimizing the negative impact to clients’ cash flow were concerns shared by all those in the coding and medical billing community. While the transition has been relatively smooth as it pertains to our internal operations, there have been unanticipated challenges on the…

ICD-10 has been a non-event for clearinghouses, which are continuing to report little impact on their day-to-day business operations. Availity, one such entity, has encountered a few minor issues over the past month, primarily related to data not being submitted correctly by providers or payers having slightly different interpretations of…