International Classification of Diseases Using numbered codes for diagnosis make cataloging disease and coding the cause of death easier and more accurate. These are the ICD codes (International Classification of Diseases). ICD 1 began in 1900 and the current ICD 9 is scheduled to be replaced by the ICD 10 in October 2015. The magnitude […]

ICD There are two related classifications of diseases with similar titles, and a third classification on functioning and disability. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is the classification used to code and classify mortality data from death certificates. The International Classification of Diseases, Clinical Modification (ICD-CM) is used to code and classify morbidity data from […]

CPT coding is similar to ICD-9 and ICD-10 coding, except that it identifies the services rendered rather than the diagnosis on the claim. ICD code sets also contain procedure codes but these are only used in the inpatient setting.[5]CPT is currently identified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)[6] as Level 1 of the Health Care Procedure Coding System. Using a […]

CPT: Medical Coding Roundtable: Why 99214 Is Your New BFF Code 99214 ranks as the second highest level of care for established patients, yet stands as one of the most underutilized codes out of the CPT book. It is commonly thought that physicians may down-code to a 99213, if the physician is not sure their […]

See this section in previous issues concerning ICD 9 and CPT coding The International Classification of Diseases is currently in its ninth edition and identifies 16,000 medical diseases or diagnosis. It is known as the ICD 9 and used by all physicians and surgeons. This is being up graded in the 10th edition to 68,000 […]

71 Percent of Obamacare Insurance Enrollment Gains Due to Medicaid New enrollment data for the second quarter of 2014 reveals how Obamacare enrollment shook out among Medicaid and private coverage. In all, the number of insured Americans increased by 8.5 million individuals. However, according to a new study from Edmund Haislmaier and Drew Gonshorowki of […]

Health Maintenance Organizations are becoming more aggressive in taking over the health care of the insured. They have unobtrusively sent physicians, who are not the patient’s personal physician, to visit our patients, interview them, examine them, do very detailed personal/social interviews, make various and sundry recommendations about their habits, medications, their diets, drinking, and other […]

Perverse Incentives There’s been a debate in Sacramento for the last 50 years concerning water that is purchased on the basis of the size of the pipe carrying it to your house. It was relatively inexpensive for a ¾ inch pipe that would easily take care of everyone’s water needs. The T-S-R (tax-spend-regulate) folks wanted […]

Having worked primarily in government hospitals for the first 12 years of my professional life, I knew very little about private health care. Medical school had a university hospital for all our clinical work. There were generally two services:  the ones that the resident/intern were primarily responsible for; and another for the professor’s private practice […]

Student Debt Linked to Worse Health and Less Wealth Those with over $50,000 in debt have lower well-being than debt-free peers by Andrew Dugan and Stephanie Kafka As college costs rise and enrollment increases, the amount of outstanding undergraduate student debt in the U.S. continues to climb. The amount of student debt now stands at […]