Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Medical coding news : How to avoid H1N1, Fecal Incontinence

Medical Coder preparing for ICD-9 2011 doesn’t forget to give attention to medical coding news. It will help you how to avoid H1N1, fecal incontinence.

Medical Coding, ICD-9 2011, medical coding news, ICD 10 codes, ICD-9 coding

Even if you’re preparing for ICD 10 codes, you shouldn’t let rumors of few ICD-9 2011 changes blindside you to top family medicine changes. Minus the scoop on expansion to the 488, 784 and 787 categories, denials for invalid codes will derail your claims.

In ICD-9 2011, codes remain to be more and more specific necessitating a provider to document clearly and thoroughly to allow for selection of the most specific and spot on codes.

Good tidings: Updating your ICD-9 coding by October 1 this year does not have to be a chore. Follow these guidelines to start using your new choices in no time.

When assigning ‘swine flu’ Dx, look at manifestation

When a patient has H1N1, pay attention to two details this winter. The medical record will have to identify the correct influenza and you’ll have to capture the appropriate manifestation to select the codes to the degree of specificity now required.

With the change, category 488 would mirror the structure of category 487. The present 488.x sub-category did not provide the level of detail that category 487 does.

Change: There’ll be tremendous expansion of the H1NI category. ICD-9 2011 does away with 488.0 and 488.1 and adds six new five-digit codes. Just-in codes 488.0x and 488.1x allow you to uniquely capture pneumonia, other respiratory manifestations and other manifestations occurring with these types of influenza.

Beginning October 1, you will assign the right 488.xx code based on the type of comorbid manifestation the avian or H1N1 influenza involves:

Do not forget: As with 487.0 when you code 488.01 or 488.11, you will use an additional code to identify the type of pneumonia.

For more on this and other medical coding news, sign up for a one-stop medical coding website and stay up to date.


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