Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the air sacs (the inner walls of the lungs-alveoli) get damaged, stretched and rupture - creating larger air spaces. This in turn reduces...
Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) – Essentials of Diagnosis and Coding
It is estimated that approximately 300,000 children in the United States have some type of arthritis. The most common type of childhood arthritis is juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, now called juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), where the term idiopathic means "of...
Emergency Room ICD-10 Codes for Independence Day Mishaps
With the fourth of July just around the corner, Americans will be busy planning for a long weekend and finding ways to celebrate this year’s Independence Day. It is the perfect time to bring family and friends together as well. But, with more fun activities, the risk...
Coding Osteoporotic Fractures – What Coders Should Know
Osteoporosis is a systemic condition, meaning that all bones of the musculoskeletal system are affected. As this disease is characterized by low bone mass with microarchitectural disruption and skeletal fragility, there is an increased risk of fracture, particularly...
2019 CPT Codes for Epidural Injection Procedures and Diagnostic Selective Nerve Root Blocks
As a pain management medical coding company, we help pain management physicians flawlessly navigate code and guideline revisions, and report services in keeping with payer policies and federal and state regulations. Epidural injections and diagnostic nerve root blocks...
ICD-10 Codes to Report the Auto-Immune Disease Myasthenia Gravis
Myasthenia gravis is a neuromuscular disease characterized by weakness and rapid fatigue of voluntary muscles. It's caused by a breakdown in the normal communication between nerves and muscles. In most cases, the muscles around the eyes tend to be affected first,...
Medical Codes for Meniscectomy – A Common Arthroscopic Surgery
If you happen to experience swelling and well-localized pain in the knee, which is made worse by twisting or squatting motions, then it must be a symptom of a torn meniscus. A meniscus (also called menisci) is a C-shaped band of cartilage (between the femur and the...
Meet E/M Documentation Requirements to Maximize Revenue and Minimize Audit Risks
The evaluation and management (E/M) patient visit is the most common element in family practice medical billing. Billing the correct E/M level is necessary to avoid loss of revenue, payer billing and coding audits, and payment recoupments. Often, practitioners choose...
ICD-10 Codes for Common Sleep Disorders
Sleep disorders are medical problems that occur during sleep. Those having a hard time to fall asleep or stay asleep might be suffering from a sleep disorder. Lack of sleep can lead to chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, heart...
Guidelines for Reporting Allergy Testing and Immunotherapy Services
Allergy season is here. Spring allergies are typically triggered by pollen and often continue into the summer. Physicians’ practices are busy dealing with patients complaining of hay fever (allergic rhinitis) symptoms such as watery eyes, stuffy nose, sneezing fits,...