As social distancing efforts ramp up to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), healthcare providers are turning to telehealth as a viable mode of communication with patients, who are being discouraged from making in-person visits to healthcare facilities when possible.
Providers in the U.S. will soon have a specific ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for the COVID-19 virus. During a March 18 meeting, The ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance Committee announced that it would adopt the World Health Organization code, U07.1 (COVID-19), effective April 1.
Q: Are disposable instrumentation tools, those typically used in endoscopic or cardiac procedures, considered integral to the procedure or are they separately chargeable?
Q: We are seeing an influx of possible novel coronavirus (COVID-19) patients at our facility. How can we prepare to query for COVID-19-related documentation and coding issues that are bound to come our way due to the newness of the diagnosis?
Q: An employee in a psychiatric hospital’s billing department sees a fellow parishioner’s name. He calls other parishioners to tell them that this individual is a patient at the hospital, and they share this information on a prayer chain. Suddenly, several hundred people know that this parishioner is a patient in a psychiatric hospital. Is this an acceptable disclosure?
CMS announced blanket waivers of certain Medicare requirements to prevent gaps in care for beneficiaries affected by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency. The agency released billing instructions and a set of Q&As.
The American Medical Association (AMA) announced Friday that its CPT® Editorial Panel expedited approval of a unique CPT code to report laboratory testing services for COVID-19. The new code supports the urgent public health need for streamlined reporting of testing for the novel coronavirus.
