Q: I received confusing guidance regarding CPT coding for a segmental spinal fusion with pedicle screws placed at L3 and L4 vertebrae. Would it be appropriate to report CPT code 22612 with add-on code 22614 for this procedure?
UMass Memorial Medical Group Inc. and UMass Memorial Medical Center Inc. reached a $230,000 settlement with the state of Massachusetts in response to two data breaches that exposed the personal health information of more than 15,000 Massachusetts residents.
Q: How long are we required to retain the records of out-of-state patients? Do we follow HIPAA’s record retention requirements, our state record retention requirements, or the record retention requirements of the state in which the patient lives?
It is critical for providers and any person who is involved with healthcare revenue integrity to stay as current as possible or risk losing out on opportunities to ensure proper and full payment of millions of dollars’ worth of billed and/or billable claims, and the National Association of Healthcare Revenue Integrity’s 2018 Revenue Integrity Symposium can help professionals do just that.
Q: Sometimes a patient doesn’t understand his or her conditions enough to do what he or she can to prevent readmission. Any tips on what a case manager can do to empower patients to learn about their health?
Data is an essential tool in understanding the patient population that will guide the focus of your case management program, and both internal metrics and community/public health data will provide strategic focus to case management practices.
Q: Our team is having a hard time determining a principal diagnosis for a patient with a history of stage 5 chronic kidney disease (CKD) who is receiving chronic hemodialysis and is in acute renal failure (ARF) with volume overload. What ICD-10-CM code should be listed as the principal diagnosis?
The Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced yesterday that it has reached separate settlements with three facilities for compromising the privacy of patient protected health information during the filming of “Boston Med,” an ABC television documentary series.
