Coding Tips
Abnormal Findings on Neonatal Screening Currently there is only a single code to capture any or all types of newborn screenings that may have positive or abnormal results. The American Academy of Pediatrics requested expansion of category P09 Abnormal findings on neonatal screening, to specifically show which screening categories were abnormal. Table 1 shows the…
The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is a clinical scale used to measure a person’s level of consciousness after a brain injury. The scoring is determined by three factors: amount of eye opening, verbal responsiveness, and motor responsiveness. The Glasgow Coma Scale has an adult version and a pediatric version. The pediatric version is also composed…
There are currently no unique ICD-10-PCS codes to describe the noninvasive measurement of flow through a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt. Hydrocephalus is a debilitating neurological disorder that results from the overproduction and/or impaired reabsorption of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the ventricles of the brain. Hydrocephalus affects over 1 million people in the United States alone….
Click the button below to download a PDF of Natalie Sartori’s Lunch and Learn, “Spinal Fusions Advanced Applications.”
Currently, there is no unique ICD-10-PCS code to identify the use of intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) to treat calcified lesions in the coronary arteries. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation is the most frequent mode of coronary revascularization. Advanced age and an increasing frequency of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and renal insufficiency contribute to…
Critical limb ischemia, also known as chronic limb-threatening ischemia, is a clinical syndrome of peripheral artery disease of the lower limbs with ischemic pain at rest and ischemic tissue such as nonhealing ulcers or gangrene. Critical limb ischemia (CLI) does not happen overnight and does occur over time. Patients are at a much higher risk…
Overview: The fiscal year 2022 ICD-10-PCS code set updates [1] address the lack of a specific code for vertebral body tethering performed in the treatment of scoliosis. Scoliosis is a condition that manifests in a significant number of skeletally immature patients annually and is generally defined as an abnormal curvature of the spine greater than…
On June 4th, 2021, CMS released the 2022 ICD-10 Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS) updates. These codes will be applied beginning with discharges on October 1, 2021. The updated ICD-10-PCS codes contain 191 new codes, 62 revised titles, and 107 deleted codes, bringing the 2022 ICD-10-PCS code set total to 78,220. The leading code changes by…
ICD-11 introduces some great new features, including post-coordinated codes. Though you may not use these terms, we’re all familiar with pre-coordinated codes since all of the codes in the code sets we use today (including ICD-10-CM, ICD-10-PCS and CPT for example) are pre-coordinated. Pre-coordinated codes contain the pertinent information about a clinical concept in a…
Effective August 11, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services resumed the Comprehensive Error Rate Testing program activities that were temporarily suspended in response to the public health emergency for the 2019-Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. CMS uses Comprehensive Error Rate Testing to verify Medicare Administrator Contractors are properly paying claims. CERT audits coding and…