At the Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists (ACDIS), questions on physician queries are never few and far between. Although AHIMA has published a couple briefs on the topic over the last decade, questions have still remained about how to implement a compliant and effective query process.
Q. A long-term care facility has deployed laptops that connect to a file server and are password protected. The laptops are not used to store PHI or other confidential data and are not removed from the facility. Do the laptop hard drives need to be encrypted?
This year's Recovery Auditor Benchmarking Report surveyed 325 respondents, representing both small and large hospitals, from all four Recovery Auditor regions. It may not come as a huge surprise to many that the main theme of this year's survey is the expanding state of the Recovery Auditors (RA), and the fact that they continue to gain speed and extend their reach.
Our experts answer questions about modifiers for diagnostic interventional procedures, Medicare recognition of CPT® code 9066, reporting add-on code for psychotherapy with interactive complexity, reporting G0378 for all payers, and wound care coding.
CMS corrected edit 84, added five APCs to the I/OCE, deleted two APCs, and changed the description of another as part of the April updates to the I/OCE. In addition, CMS deleted all of the genetic testing modifiers, retroactive to January 1.
Q. Can paper patient records be kept in a public storage unit? The storage company we are considering has a digital entry at the main gate. We would also have a keyed lock on the storage unit door.
