As part of the new coding format for our newsletter, Welter Healthcare Partners is excited to offer you a new surgery coding series in which we want to help you! The 2nd week of every month we will highlight a complicated surgical case. This week we are highlighting a general surgery case. We want to hear from you! If you have a complicated surgery case and need help with coding, please upload the operative note by clicking on the link below. Remember to remove ALL patient protected health information and organization identifiers. Welter Healthcare Partners will not use any medical records submitted in which PHI is not removed and protected. 
nnThe Wanna Cry or Wanna Decryptor ransomware virus swept the globe last month and virtually shut down several dozen regional health authorities within the National Health Service of the United Kingdom, while simultaneously impacting the operations of such diverse entities as Spain’s national telephone service, La Telefónica; Germany’s railway system, Deutsche Bahn; automotive plants of the French car manufacturer, Renault; the Russian Interior Ministry; and universities in China and Taiwan.nnIn its notice sent out as part of Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) list serves, HHS stated that the department is aware of two, large, multi-state hospitals systems in the U.S. that are continuing to face significant challenges to operations because of the WannaCry malware. HHS specifically notes that this not a new WannaCry attack.nnThe virus can persist even on a machine that has been patched, however, the virus will not spread to a patched machine, but the attempt to scan can disrupt Windows operating systems when it executes. The particular effect varies according to the version of Windows on the device, HHS stated.nnWannaCry ransomware is a fast-propagating worm which exploits Windows’ Server Message Block version 1 (SMBv1) protocol to move through a network or infect other systems on the Internet. However, according to HHS in its notice, SMBv1 might not be the only vector of infection for WannaCry, so even patched systems could still be infected if the malware is introduced to the system in a different manner.n
Most long-term relationships are built on mutual trust and respect. Valuable relationships are not built on mistrust, fear or intimidation. Same holds true for the relationship your practice has with payers, and especially payer representatives. A little sugar can go a long way when you need help resolving claims issues or credentialing problems. Resist the temptation to beat up on the payer reps you encounter over the phone and don’t ever write a nasty, insulting e-mail. These almost always backfire and once the bullet leaves the gun you can’t bring it back.nnBelieve it or not, you need these people and they have long memories. Having done this for almost 30 years, I have found the payer reps, like me, are not perfect but they really do want to help resolve issues not make them worse. Take the long view, create a relationship!nn
Telehealth Services: As of 2017, many payers are now legally required to reimburse providers of various specialties for telehealth services. Billing and Coding reimbursement rules for telemedicine can be extremely cumbersome. Follow these compliance tips and the financial impact for your practice can be significant:nCLICK HERE TO SUBMIT A CASE STUDY TO THE SURGERY CODING SERIES!
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2018 ICD-10-CM Codes Include Hundreds of Changes
CMS proposed a final set of codes in April’s hospital IPPS rule, including over three hundred changes.nnStarting Oct. 1, it will be possible to select a specific ICD-10-CM code when a patient is in remission from abuse of each of a variety of substances, including alcohol, opioids, cannabis, and nicotine.nnThose nine new codes are among 360 new, 142 deleted, and 226 revised diagnosis codes in the final 2018 update posted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to its website on June 13. The final 2018 ICD-10-CM codes include 322 more changes than what was proposed by CMS for the hospital IPPS rule in April.nnExplanatory information included with the substance abuse remission codes will classify the severity of the use as mild, moderate, or severe to better coordinate ICD-10-CM coding with the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).n
nThis article originally posted on HealthLeadersMedia.com.