New ICD-10 Codes, MS-DRG Assignments for COVID-19 Coming Jan. 1

Come January 1, 2021, CMS will implement 21 new ICD-10 procedure codes for COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics for the novel coronavirus, including baricitinib and monoclonal antibody treatments. The Food and…

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Health Information Manager: Five Essential Skills To Possess

Health Information Manager: Five Essential Skills To Possess : The record-keeping of patients is transitioning from traditional handwritten ways to digital formats. Health care providers are using the latest technologies to…

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CMS Details Medicare Payment for New COVID-19 Antibody Drug

Just a day after the FDA approved the emergency use of a new COVID-19 antibody drug, CMS updated Medicare payment and billing policies to ensure providers have access to the…

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Unemployment, COVID-19, and Testing Claims

America’s new normal. Unemployed, uninsured, unbelievable! The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that 12.6 million Americans are on unemployment rosters around the country; 32.5 percent of the adult population…

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COVID-19 CPT vaccine and immunization codes

New Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) codes have been created that streamline the reporting of immunizations for the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, also known as COVID-19). Unique CPT codes approved for COVID-19…

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Sounding the Alarm About False Positives

There are false negatives; there are false positives; there are untested individuals with disease. I am in the process of developing a 90-minute COVID-19 webinar for ICDUniversity in December to…

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New York ER doctors sue UnitedHealth over out-of-network claims

Five New York emergency room physician groups on Monday filed a federal lawsuit alleging that UnitedHealth Group and Multiplan conspired to underpay out-of-network providers. The group of staffing firms, all…

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Demand for medical coders, billers accelerates despite pandemic

Some jobs have weathered the pandemic far better than others. Medical coders and billers were booming even before the coronavirus hit, and demand for those skills has only accelerated. The…

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ICD-10 Updates Include New COVID-19 Code

The ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision) now includes a diagnosis code for COVID-19. Although new ICD codes are implemented every year on Oct. 1, the new code—U07.1, COVID-19—was…

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Physician asset protection: 5 practical lessons

An examination of asset protection issues from current news headlines highlights the defensive measures doctors and healthcare executives must consider. Physicians face many risks beyond medical malpractice. A shocking case…

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Evaluation and Management – Looking Beyond COVID-19

Now that the initial wave of Covid-19 has passed and providers have mastered the telehealth billing requirements, it is time to turn attention to the 2021 Evaluation and Management (E&M)…

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The Definition of Medical Necessity in the Era of COVID

Sometimes, in an audit, it comes down to the definition of “medical necessity.” While the coronavirus pandemic is horrible already, it seems to be getting worse. But COVID has forced…

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Coding tips to help your practice integrate behavioral health

The need to improve patient access to mental and behavioral health services is undeniable, and tools from the AMA and others are available to help primary care practices integrate these…

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Treating COVID-19

The ICD-10-PCS codes can be found in the XW0 Table for the drug infusions. There were new ICD-10-PCS codes implemented on Aug. 1, involving substances associated with the treatment of…

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