Q:Our neurologist often documents encephalopathy for many of our patients. If an elderly patient came in with altered mental status (AMS), delirium, and has baseline dementia, can we code encephalopathy? What if the physician...Read More »
Because coroners and medical examiners did not specify the drugs contributing to death, potentially 70,000 opioid-related overdose deaths from 1999-2015 were excluded from national figures.Read More »
My favorite part of teaching our Boot Camps are the discussions which take place as we move through the materials. CDI reviews vary from organization to organization...Read More »
Q:We use the pre-bill reconciliation process at the time of coding and are trying to determine the true CDI/coding match rate. If the CDI specialist doesn’t enter the queried diagnosis in their working DRG but the physician...Read More »
The CDI and coding teams should routinely meet to discuss documentation issues, physician/provider challenges, and DRG variations. Many organizations conduct DRG comparisons between the CDI and coding teams. DRG assignment is an excellent area for education for both teams.Read More »
Q:In what instance would septic shock not be coded as the principal diagnosis? I’ve been under the impression that it should always be principal.Read More »
