Alert: We have an ICD-10 elephant in the room!

on February 17th, 2012   by Kim Felix | No Comments

Well, there is suddenly a big elephant in the ICD-10 room, isn’t there???  What will happen?  For those of you who have not heard, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)  has announced there will be a new compliance … Continue reading →

Next steps on the path to Meaningful Use

on February 6th, 2012   by Amy Derlink | No Comments

If you’ve established that your ROI vendor is prepared to help you meet Meaningful Use requirements,  you may be wondering: “What next?” The following sequence provides general guidelines for logical subsequent activities. Your ROI vendor should be ready to: Begin tracking … Continue reading →

Glasgow Coma Scale

on January 12th, 2012   by Kim Felix | 2 Comments

The Glasgow coma scale codes can be used in conjunction with traumatic brain injury codes or sequelae of cerebrovascular accident codes.  These codes are primarily used by trauma registries, but they may be used in any setting where this information … Continue reading →

Breaking it down: fracture extensions

on December 22nd, 2011   by IOD Incorporated | No Comments

Most categories in the Injury chapter of ICD-10-CM have a required 7th digit character extension.  Most fractures have the following extensions: A- initial encounter for closed fracture B- initial encounter for open fracture D- subsequent encounter for fracture with routine healing G- … Continue reading →

A hearty helping of ICD-10

on December 2nd, 2011   by Kim Felix | No Comments

ICD-10-CM defines an acute myocardial infarction as one with a stated duration of 4 weeks (28 days) or less from its onset.  This is different from ICD-9-CM which was defined as 8 weeks.  Also, a code for a ‘subsequent’ MI … Continue reading →

Dual Coding of ICD-9 and ICD-10

on November 7th, 2011   by Kim Felix | No Comments

Some ICD-10 consultants are recommending dual coding of ICD-9 and ICD-10 starting six months before the Oct. 1, 2013, deadline for adoption of the new code set. Learn what this means and how to get started.

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Is your ROI vendor ready to help you meet MU?

on October 24th, 2011   by Amy Derlink | No Comments

The buzz in the healthcare arena is Meaningful Use (MU) and how Eligible Hospitals (EHs) and Eligible Providers (EPs) will meet the requirements.  As an HIM professional, you’re faced with dual challenges of demonstrating MU of the electronic health record … Continue reading →

Final ICD-9-CM Update

on October 11th, 2011   by Kim Felix | No Comments

Highlights of the changes, including diagnoses, procedures, and MS-DRGs (from the HFMA Revenue Cycle Strategist newsletter). Continue reading →

A Quick Appraisal of the Facets of GEMS

on September 16th, 2011   by Kim Felix | No Comments

Looking for information on General Equivalence Maps (GEMs)? Find out why they’re necessary (from the HFMA Revenue Cycle Strategist newsletter). Continue reading →

ICD-10 is Giving Me Heartache

on September 9th, 2011   by Kim Felix | No Comments

Goodbye coding clinics and hello combination codes! In our last blog post we visited the new combination codes for diabetes mellitus. Another area rich in combination codes is Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) and Angina. In I-10 coders will use combination … Continue reading →