Laura Barron, RHIA, CCS, is the Vice President of Coding Services for UASI. With more than 30 years’ experience in Health Information Management, she is thoroughly involved in the strategic growth and operational performance of UASI and is responsible for UASI’s remote and onsite coding projects. Prior to joining UASI in 2011, Laura has served in many roles in her HIM career primarily focused on coding, auditing and education. Laura graduated from Kean University with a Bachelors degree in Health Information Management and currently lives in Charleston, SC where she is an active member of SCHIMA.
Hierarchical Condition Categories (HCCs) have been around since 2004. However, with their increased impact on professional fee reimbursement due to the implementation of MACRA, HCCs… Read More »Coding Compliance Risks Associated with Hierarchical Condition Categories (HCCs)
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) lifted Medicare restrictions on the use of telehealth services during the COVID-19 emergency. TELEHEALTH FACTS: Effective March… Read More »Important Telehealth Coding Advice during COVID-19
ICD-10 MS-DRGs Version 37.1 Effective April 1, 2020 Coding Discharges on or after 4/1/2020 *Please note: As of 4/1/2020, new code ICD-10 CM U07.1 will… Read More »ICD Tip – The Latest on COVID-19
As of March 17, 2020 under President Trump’s leadership, the CMS has broadened access to Medicare’s telehealth services benefits with a 1135 waiver that will… Read More »2020 CMS E&M Guidance Telehealth Services
Continuous learning is the only way to keep up with shifting standards and guidelines, payment reform, and the latest changes in healthcare technology. Accurate, high-quality coding is simply not possible without ongoing education.
It is the responsibility of the coder to assign codes based on documentation in the chart and as guided by the code-set and the official coding guidelines. But what happens when documentation in the chart is not clear cut?