Posts Tagged ‘education’

When you open the October 2013 Coding Edge, we’ll be using ICD-10-CM.

After more than a decade of false starts and revisions, we are all finally packing for destination ICD-10, which features a new language of an enormous but elegant “smart code” set. For a profession whose members weather weekly reimbursement rules and quarterly code changes, implementation seems both reassuringly far away and uncomfortably close. And frankly, after experiences like the Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) Black Box Edits and various audit programs, it’s hard to get excited about embarking on a boat for yet another federal initiative.

That’s why when AAPC leaders looked at the journey ahead, they searched for “the right approach, the right curriculum, the right timing, and the right cost,” said Deborah Grider, CPC, CPC-I, CPC-H, CPC-P, COBGC, CEMC, CDERC, CCS-P. As AAPC vice president of strategic development and former National Advisory Board (NAB) president, she’ll guide us through the transition. Grider is a long-time Coding Edge ICD-10 contributor and author of such coding standards as AMA Press’ Coding with Modifiers, with a new book, Preparing for ICD-10-CM: Make the Transition Manageable being released by the AMA this month.

Read more »

The International Classification of Disease (ICD) is used for classifying diseases and other health problems recorded on many types of vital records including death certificates and hospital records.  The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10^th Revision (ICD-10-WHO) is maintained by the World Health Organization and was endorsed by the 43^rd World Health Assembly in May 1990.  Many countries around the world began implementing ICD-10 for mortality statistics in 1994. In the natural progression of coding medical records, various countries around the world began to contemplate the idea of using ICD-10 for morbidity data. Read more »

The familiar statement “turn off the TV and do your homework” may be outdated. A recent study found all medical students watch TV medical dramas. Educators, however, debate whether shows like “House” and “Grey’s Anatomy” are viable sources for medical learning.

Read more »

Physicians feel they know little about consumer-directed health plans, according to a Robert Woods Johnson Foundation study, giving coders the opportunity to help educate physicians and their patients.

The plans, meant to shift more responsibility for health care decisions to the individual patient, often come with high deductibles and include a health savings account. Read more »