flynn043

ICD-9-CM Has Procedure Codes? In part two of my blog series about coding systems, I'd like to present ICD-9-CM, Volume 3. If you've taken classes that are preparing you to take the CPC exam, it might be news to you that ICD-9-CM has three volumes. Or procedure codes. So that's it: volume 3 of ICD-9-CM is procedure codes.  Hospitals Use It In part one of this series, I mentioned that HIPAA defines which code sets are used for each health care setting. Volume 3 ICD-9-CM codes are only mandated for hospital inpatient claims. They are a major factor in the determining DRG assignments, which drive hospital inpatient payments.  Some hospitals also assign ICD-9-CM volume 3 codes for hospital outpatients as well. This is solely for data collection purposes but the codes get "scrubbed" off the outpatient bill and don't go to the insurance company. ICD-9-CM codes may be used to analyze volume of a particular type of procedure performed either as inpatient or outpatient....

What's Your Idea of a Best Seller? Every once in a while I page through a magazine taking keen interest in the best seller and "must read" book lists that everyone is talking about.  I usually tear out the pages for books that are interesting so I can download them later.  And then I rarely read them.  Or it takes me literally months to finish a book.  I love to read, but frankly, after a day of reading code books, and spending a lot of time writing, I just don't have the eye or mental energy to crack a book for fun. My idea of a best seller is a string of code books that I use every day.  Don't worry though, I find other ways to have fun that have nothing to do with coding! The last time I moved, I had lots of friends helping me lug boxes and it didn't take long for them to zone in on the heaviest ones: they were labeled "code books."  I have code books for various coding systems going back several years and yes, they are heavy.  And it's hard t...

This December, coders across the country got the ultimate Christmas present: a bill passed the House and Senate without the addition of language that would further delay ICD-10 implementation.  As we breathe a sigh of relief and get ready for a worry-free Christmas (at least as far as coding is concerned), we aren't fully exhaling until the end of March when the SGR bill comes up again for a vote. But how many people are aware that there is another type of legislation at work that could cut down on the number of RAC denials we get?  Sounds almost too good to be true, doesn't it?  While the legislation is real, it's in very draft form right now.  Unfortunately, from where I sit, it also seems to be flying very low under the radar among my peers and I think it deserves some attention. First of all, if you are not yet familiar with RACs, those are the Recovery Audit Contractors hired by Medicare to recoup improper payments to hospitals and physicians and return that mon...

There is a super cute little toy shop in Coeur d'Alene, ID called Shenanigan's Toy Emporium  that sells vintage toys and other unique items.  When traveling there on business, we usually make a stop in to shop from their wall of amazing salt water taffy and check out their selection of toys that don't come with a power button.  You know, the kind of toys we had prior to the Atari and Game Boy era! Shenanigan's also has a great display of giant microbes - small plush renderings of everything from the common cold to diarrhea.  I am still marveling at how they could create a plush toy out of liquid stool!  I'm sure it's just the geeky coder in me (and my colleagues), but we decided to buy a few and put them out during our training sessions along with our baskets of Play Dough, pipe cleaners, and candy (we like to have FUN in our training sessions!).  Needless to say, they were a big hit with our clients and we noticed on one of the tags that there was a websit...

I've been pretty quiet lately around the blogosphere and some may even think I've disappeared.  And for about a year, up until about October, I really had disappeared a bit to plan and live through my wedding.  After a couple months of an identity crisis, I'll announce here that Coder Coach Kristi Stanton has disappeared and the new Coder Coach is now Kristi Pollard .  The new last name will take a couple of decades to get used to, but I am hopeful that if I'm quoted in the future, it won't be as the first actress to play Buffy the Vampire Slayer. True story. For the last couple of months I've been waiting for inspiration to strike so I could once again become passionate about the blog.  I've been observing.  Don't get me wrong, with all the legislation and talk about more ICD-10 delays, I've also been writing my congressmen, participating in Twitter rallies (follow me at @codercoach), and making posts on Facebook, but I've spent more time just w...

For the last year, I've traveled across the country providing ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS education to coders and clinical documentation specialists.  Our company's model provides three separate training sessions for our clients: basic, intermediate, and advanced.  This means lots of repeat visits to each client, lots of really hard questions, and tons of professional growth for me.  I thought it was time to start a new series here on my Coder Coach blog: ICD-10 FAQs.  This is a question I've been asked a lot lately as we get into advanced trainings and more controversial topics: If the United States is the last country to implement ICD-10, why are there so many unanswered coding questions and why do we have to wait for Coding Clinic  advice? While it seems logical that someone would have figured out all of this ICD-10 stuff within the last 20 years as we've been "messing around" here in the US (please note the sarcasm, because I don't really think we've ...

In terms of the blogosphere, I've been severely slacking for the last several months. In terms of ICD-10 preparation, I would argue I've done my fair share. As an AHIMA-Approved ICD-10-CM/PCS trainer for nearly 5 years, AHIMA ICD-10 Ambassador, and a senior consultant specializing in ICD-10 education, I've spent much of the three years with my current employer writing ICD-10 web-based and instructor-led training, coding cases using the ICD-10 code sets, and spending countless hours face-to-face with coders across the country conducting basic, intermediate, and advanced ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS training. For three years I chaired Colorado's ICD-10 Task Force, which has worked hard to raise awareness and push implementation efforts forward.  I've been in the coding industry for 19 years and we've been talking about ICD-10 for my entire career. I remember where I was when the proposed rule for ICD-10 was released and who told me. It was that big of a deal. I rememb...