Coding & Documentation

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Despite a delay in implementation, Dan Howard of Cook County Hospital explains his facility's transition to the new coding standard.

E & M Coding Benchmarks

Compare your E&M coding patterns with national norms from Medicare. It's a fast way to see if you are out of whack. Translate Medicare's data for your specialty into percentiles for easier comparison.

QDC codes themselves carry no payment for a claim. However, using the codes correctly may result in a bonus payment from Medicare, and not reporting them successfully will result in a penalty.

With so much else changing in healthcare, it's understandable that you'd want to avoid thinking about transitioning to the coming ICD-10 code set. But the longer you wait to start, the tougher it will be to make the switch, and the more likely you are to lose money. Here's what you need to know to avoid claims denials and ensure a smooth conversion.

Level 5 Cases

This pediatric cardiologist thinks that all his patient visits should be coded as level 5s. Is he right?

I have a physician who saw a patient for a preventive visit and also charged a 99215 for this patient on the same date of service. He used the same documentation for both visits. Should he have documented each service separately?