Contributor Articles

Articles by Shannon McCall, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CPC-I, CEMC, CCDS

Browse recent articles, insights, and published work from this BC Advantage contributor.

ICD-10 Implementation Date - Delay to 2014, 2015, or Beyond?
ICD-10 Sep 10, 2012
ICD-10 Implementation Date - Delay to 2014, 2015, or Beyond?
It seemed not so long ago we in the healthcare industry had the date ingrained into our brains -October 1, 2013 was THE day. No delays, no exceptions! We've been living and planning for this implementation date since it was first announced in January 2009. For the better part of three years, many organizations have done significant amounts of preparatory work and invested many dollars to ensure their facility and its employees are steadily readying themselves for the transition from ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM/PCS.
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Present on Admission Indicators (POAs), Hospital Acquired Conditions (HACs): What's the Bottom Line? Do They Really End Up Affecting the Assigned MS-DRG?
Coding Aug 12, 2010
Present on Admission Indicators (POAs), Hospital Acquired Conditions (HACs): What's the Bottom Line? Do They Really End Up Affecting the Assigned MS-DRG?
Imagine this scenario: You are a 70-year old Medicare patient who is extremely active and healthy (i.e., no co-morbid conditions). By virtue of being overactive, you've developed arthritis. You've just had a right total knee replacement performed two days ago and other than some expected pain, you seem to be doing just fine. But while relaxing watching TV in your hospital bed, you develop severe shortness of breath and call for the nurse immediately. The surgeon is called and you are subsequently diagnosed with a postoperative pulmonary embolism directly related to the knee replacement.
Q and A: 2009 CPT code changes
Mar 2, 2009
Q and A: 2009 CPT code changes
Along with the many new CPT codes that come our way each winter, come many questions about how to handle them. Here are the answers to some common questions that coders may have as they work through the new codes for 2009.