flynn043

There is a local radio station here in Denver with a deejay whose pet peeve is people complaining about Mondays.  "It's just another day of the week people," I've heard him say more than once.  I'm pretty much an optimist and don't like to get dragged into the Monday doldrums myself, but it is harder for me to get going on a Monday morning. And so I often tag a "Happy Monday" note with a smiley face on emails on Monday mornings.  It's not as much for the recipient - although if it helps them, then yay! - but for me. So I was trying to decide what kind of code to choose for today and I've had this one jotted down on my virtual post-it for about a week: R45.2 Unhappiness When I first came across that code, I did a double take.  Did I really just see a code for being unhappy?  Seriously? In case you're wondering, this code is found in Chapter 18 of ICD-10-CM, Symptoms, Signs and Abnormal Clinical and Laboratory Findings, Not Elsewhere Classi...

This has been a busy couple of weeks.  I've been able to visit with a lot of people I rarely get to see.  Old friends at a high school reunion.  My brother.  And one of my nearest and dearest BFFs.  A BFF with a marketing degree and a brilliant personal blog.  The same BFF who inspired me to start blogging in the first place. So as we caught up over dinner tonight, the conversation covered everything from work to personal relationships to her beautiful daughters - and our blogs.  And she offered to rehab my blog for me.  As I watched her work over the Coder Coach blog, I realized the format was old and dying.  And once again I took to my code book.  Voila... Today's code for the day: R54 Age-related debility That was the old blog.  And what do you think of the new one? As I learn a few new tricks, I hope you enjoy the enhancements to this site.  Soon I will be adding resource links for all the coder wanna-bes out there as well ...

Meet Jake Meet Jake.  I can't see your reaction, but I've introduced enough people to Jake that I can pretty much guess.  You were immediately drawn in by his beautiful blue eyes and unusual coloring (he's a blue point Himalayan mix).  He is, without a doubt, one of the most gorgeous cats I've ever seen.  A select few of you - those who really pay attention to detail have zeroed in on  his tag - a skull and cross bones with the words "Bad Kitty."  Some of you have a phobia of cats and were immediately disturbed to see him when you opened up my blog this morning.  I am never one to encourage phobias of cats because I think they're awesome.  But in this case you should be afraid.  Very afraid.  You see, Jake is evil. Cue intro to "Bad to the Bone" music. Jake is a rescue.  He was a stray who was pulled off the dangerous streets of a Denver suburb when I adopted him at about 5 months old.  I was immediately smitten!  And let'...

My brother was in town yesterday and we got the family together and had dinner.  It was organized over a series of text messages as I sat across from my mother and grandmother during lunch on Sunday.  I knew Mom would give the 411 to Dad.  And I texted my BF to give him the invite as well.  Done.  And all in a matter of minutes without talking to any people (other than my mom and grandmother).  While I had my phone out, I checked Facebook to see if anyone had posted any new pictures from my high school reunion over the weekend.  I love seeing the little red numbers at the top of my Facebook app telling me how many new notifications, messages, and new friend requests I have.  It's more satisfying than seeing the little red numbers by the email icon telling me I have new email.  Because let's face it, most of my email these days is junk mail trying to get me to spend money at one store or another.  And if someone important really wants to ...

Happy Monday!  Sorry if you find the statement annoying or offensive.  I am actually not a fan of Mondays.  As my Tinkerbell coffee mug reminds me, "Mornings are not magical" - and neither are Mondays.  This is why the Tinkerbell mug is my Monday choice for guzzling (partially caffeinated) coffee.  I try not to fall into the misery that many do on Mondays, though, because I don't want to set a negative tone for the week.  But I got a double whammy today.  Not only is it Monday, I had an email from a client this morning asking me a question about coding debridement. Deep sigh.  Sip some coffee.  Get ready for the long email explanation back. If you've coded at all recently, you know that debridement codes are under scrutiny by Medicare's recovery audit contractors (RAC) because of the vast payment differences between nonexcisional and excisional debridement.  And as I dusted off what has become my typical response to the documentation req...

I wish I had a humorous and witty code for the day, but I'm just not feeling that chipper this morning.  I did say that my codes for the day would be inspired by my daily life.  And today's inspiration is drawn from the terrible tragedy at a movie theater not to far from me here in the suburbs of Denver.  While I'm not the type to go to a midweek midnight showing of the latest movie, I am the type of person who has friends who are the type to go to a midweek midnight showing of the latest movie.  I am happy to report that those friends who are "most likely to" have checked in on Facebook this morning.  But there are many who weren't so lucky and my heart goes out to them and their families. A quick recap in case you haven't seen any news today - a man apparently burst into a packed movie theater and threw some gas canisters into the crowd and waited for them to explode before opening fire on the defenseless audience.  At this time, it sounds like 12 are de...

I received an email from a former coworker today, who was looking everywhere she could think of to find a posting I made about a code for the day.  She was checking Linkedin.  What she found was a snarky comment I made on my personal Facebook page earlier this week.  Actually, I also made another posting last week with a code for the day. So no wonder she thought it was "out there," so to speak.  And since I've been feeling rather uninspired to blog lately, I decided to go public with the code for the day and post it here. Before I get to the first official Coder Coach Code for the Day, let me tell you this: these codes will be ICD-10 codes because I've been living and breathing ICD-10 lately and it's given me the opportunity to find some very interesting codes.  It's also led me to some very inspiring philosophical questions - you know, something along the line of why do we have an ICD-9-CM code for vomiting alone (787.03) and not one for vomiting in a group?...