Medical Coding Simplified

Irish Blessing A moonbeam to charm you, A sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you. A sunbeam to warm you, Naturally, being fluent in English places you at an advantage in the field of Medical Coding. That being said, it does not fully eliminate you from entering Coding. Medical Coding is different from Medical Transcription and does not require the same expertise and fluency in English. Medical Transcription careers demand that you be highly fluent in American English, as we get most of our clients from the USA. You need to be tuned to their culture and lifestyle to name a few. But that is not the case with coding. Of course you should have a working knowledge of English. Or else you will be unable to comprehend a Medical Chart. As you need to peruse a medical chart, understand what is being done for a patient and derive the codes. The requirement for fluency in English is not as high as in Transcription. I keep comparing the two fields of transcription and coding becaus...

Coding Hypertension and Heart Disease: If a patient has both hypertension and heart disease, knowing whether the heart disease was a by product of high blood pressure or not is important. Because you cannot presume the heart disease has been caused by the hypertension. That is not allowed. If the physician specifically states that both are connected, then you choose a code from the category I11 . If there is no such documentation available, you simply code the conditions separately sequencing them according to the circumstances of admission. Coding Hypertension and Chronic Kidney Disease: Now this is a different scenario. You need to assume that Hypertension and CKD are connected even if there is no such documentation by the doctor. You need to choose a code from the category I12 when both conditions are simultaneously present. Hypertensive heart and CKD: A single code from I13 indicates the patient has both hypertensive heart disease and hypertensive CKD. So you...

Guidelines: CKD : When the patient has anemia due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) you must report a code from N18 (CKD) in addition to D63.1 (Anemia in chronic kidney disease). Codes from N18- indicate the stage of the illness Example: Patient presented for treatment of stage 3 CKD. The provider also addresses the CKD caused anemia during the encounter. You should report N18.3 – CKD stage 3 – moderate followed by D63.1 for the anemia. Neoplastic Disease: In cases where the patient has anemia due to a neoplasm, you should report the proper neoplasm code alongside D63.0 (Anemia in neoplastic disease) However if a patient has anemia caused by his chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or radiotherapy and he presents for the treatment of the anemia only your first listed code should be an adverse effect code.   Then report the anemia and neoplasm codes. Drug Induced Anemias: Autoimmune hemolytic anemia is caused by auto antibody induced hemolysis. It is usually idiop...

Ever wondered why the English language seems to be divided into different sections... We all love to lay our claim on English - British, American, Australian, Indian and so forth. English is a common language that unites us as one across the planet. The first question we ask a stranger in any foreign country is do you know English, at least that is what Indians do. It is a great language that seems to be evolving along the way like a river that shifts its course and changes its path as it flows. It has absorbed a lot from other languages and has converted those foreign words into English. There are numerous words from Latin, Greek, French, German, Hindi in English. With the advent of Internet, the question which keeps popping up often is whether your preference is British or American English. So why is American English so different from its British counterpart? Simple.  Americans wanted to assert themselves once they were freed from their colonial status from Great...

Hi Folks! Please feel free to check your Coding Skills by taking up this free quiz... Your scores will be displayed once you complete the 10 questions. Feel free to contact me at 91 9944478988 for any queries! The risk factors for type 1 diabetes include all of the following except: Diet Genetic Autoimmune Environmental Type 2 diabetes accounts for approximately what percentage of all cases of diabetes in adults? 55% - 60% 35% - 40% 90 - 95% 25 - 30% Excessive thirst and volume of very dilute urine may be symptoms of: Urinary Tract Infection Diabetes insipidus Viral Gastroenteritis Hypoglycemia Among female children and adolescents, the first sign of type 1 diabetes may be: Rapid weight gain constipation genital candidiasis Insomnia What does the "ICD" in ICD 10 Coding stand for? Internal Calling Description International Classification of Disease Internet Checked Diagnosis International Career Development Patient is 1 month status p...

Terms Definitions see also instructional term in the index that is located after a main term or subterm and directs the coder to another main term (or subterm) that may provide additional useful index entries. see instructional term in ICD–9–CM and ICD–10–CM/PCS that directs the coder to refer to another term in the indexes the code. see  category instructional term in the index that directs the coder to the tabular list, where a code can be selected from the options provided. see  condition instructional term in the index that directs the coder to the main term for a condition. abbreviation use of NEC (not elsewhere classifiable) and NOS (not otherwise specified). (NEC and NOS abbreviations do  not  appear in ICD–10–PCS.) abbreviations use of NEC (not elsewhere classifiable) and NOS (not otherwise specified). (NEC and NOS abbreviations do  not  appear...

As Medical Coders we need to be very familiar with the language of Medicine. That said, you need not be intimidated by the vast expanse of Medical Terms and Slangs. There is no need to memorize all of the terms. But you should at least be able to  maneuver your way through the Medical Chart and understand the diagnosis and the procedures performed by the physician for the patient. Unless you accurately understand and analyse what has been done you will not be able to select the correct code. So I am enclosing below some of the common terms you will find often in fracture Coding. These terms are often seen in the CPC exam too! The terms "closed treatment," "open treatment," and "percutaneous skeletal fixation" have been carefully chosen to accurately reflect current orthopedic procedural treatments. Closed treatment specifically means that the fracture site is not surgically opened (exposed to the external environment and directly visualized). Thi...

I have been asked frequently by students about the feasibility of studying Medical Coding as an E-Learning course. They need reassurance that E-Learning is the future in Education henceforth. We have adapted to the Internet in many ways today. It has entered our lives in many ways. Imagine a scenario where a family sits down for dinner about 20 years back. It would be usually at the dining table. But today, we can see many families having TV dinners. And more often than not, the youngsters in the family will be busily typing on their smart phones and juggling their plates as well. I know because my daughter does it and I become nervous that she will drop the phone. But she is so adept in holding the phone and typing on it with just one hand. So why are we so skeptical about learning something online? That is the new trend! Traditional classroom settings do induce the sense of serious study. But learning something means you need to apply your mind to it. The same logic ap...

N urses already have a strong base in Anatomy and Physiology. This helps them to transition as Medical Coders quite smoothly. Their work experience as a nurse in a hospital scenario also plays a pivotal role. As a nurse, you will have intimate knowledge about a hospital environment or a doctor's clinic. You get to see how a patient gets admitted, the reasons which necessitates the hospital stay and the discharge criteria. For those nurses who are on the lookout for new opportunities in an allied healthcare field which will help them tap this existing knowledge base - Medical Coding is an ideal choice! Selecting an appropriate Medical code will be very easy as they have already encountered the same conditions and diseases and are also familiar with the treatment measures given by doctors. So if you are a nurse with some years of experience in a hospital, you will be a very good fit in the Medical Coding Industry. Even without the experience, as a fresher nurse, you ...