Talk Ten Tuesdays

Last year, healthcare professionals saw many of the rules for evaluation and management (E&M) services that were implemented in 2021 now applied to 2023 E&M codes. This included codes representing services for hospital inpatient care (99221-99223 and 99231-99233), emergency department visits (99281-99285), nursing facility visits (99307-99210), and all consultation services.

How are these changes likely to impact 2024 E&M coding? Senior healthcare consultant Frank Cohen, founder of the Frank Cohen Group, will report on the significant impact of these changes during the next live edition of Talk Ten Tuesdays.

The live broadcast will also feature these other segments:

• Coding Report: Laurie Johnson, senior healthcare consultant with Revenue Cycle Solutions, LLC, will report on the latest coding news.

• Social Determinants of Health: Tiffany Ferguson, CEO for Phoenix Medical Management, Inc., will report on the news happening at the intersection of medical record auditing and the social determinants of health (SDoH).

• RegWatch: Stanley Nachimson, founder of Nachimson Advisors, LLC, will report on the latest news regulatory news coming out of Washington, D.C.

• News Desk: Timothy Powell, CPA, will anchor the Talk Ten Tuesdays News Desk.

• TalkBack: Erica Remer, MD, founder and president of Erica Remer, MD, Inc. and Talk Ten Tuesdays co-host, will report on a subject that has caught her attention during her popular segment.

Codes for split (or shared) evaluation and management (E&M) services for 2024 have been revised, simplified, and aligned by the American Medical Association (AMA) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). 

During the next live edition of the long-running Talk Ten Tuesdays broadcast, 3M Senior Consultant Colleen Deighan-Ejak will report on the revised guidelines for determining who performed the substantive portion of a given service. She will also discuss the Medicare payment modifier required when reporting these services.   

The weekly live broadcast will also feature these outstanding segments and thought leaders:

• Coding Report: Laurie Johnson, senior healthcare consultant for Revenue Cycle Solutions, LLC, will report on the latest coding news.
  
  
• SDoH Report: Tiffany Ferguson, a subject-matter expert on the social determinants of health (SDoH), will report on the news that’s happening at the intersection of coding and the SDoH.
• News Desk: Timothy Powell, CPA, will anchor the Talk Ten Tuesdays News Desk.
  
  
• TalkBack: Erica Remer, MD, founder and president of Erica Remer, MD, Inc., and Talk Ten Tuesdays co-host, will report on a subject that has caught her attention.

There’s a new code in town.

It’s an add-on code, HCPCS Code G2211. And its effective date is Jan. 1, 2024.

The new code is associated with the continuing focal point for all needed medical services that are part of ongoing care related to a patient’s single, serious condition, or complex condition. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be implementing this separate add-on payment code to be reported with evaluation and management (E&M) categories Office and Other Services.

During the next live edition of Talk Ten Tuesdays, Colleen Deighan-Ejak, a senior healthcare consultant for 3M, will be reporting the nuances of this new add-on payment code, which is part of the calendar year (CY) 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule.

The weekly live broadcast will also feature these outstanding segments and thought leaders:

• Coding Report: Laurie Johnson, senior healthcare consultant for Revenue Cycle Solutions, LLC, will report on the latest coding news.

• SDoH Report: Tiffany Ferguson, a subject-matter expert on the social determinants of health (SDoH), will report on the news that’s happening at the intersection of coding and the SDoH.

• News Desk: Timothy Powell, CPA, will anchor the Talk Ten Tuesdays News Desk.

• Point of View: The forementioned Angela Comfort, the Talk Ten Tuesdays guest cohost, will report on a subject that has caught her attention.

There are substantial new changes to the minimum data set (MDS) assessment, including how functional abilities and goals are scored, the introduction of tracking of indications for medication use, and the addition of new measures for tracking communication of transfer-of-health information. The recent changes became effective Oct. 1, the start of the government’s fiscal year.

The MDS assessment is a standardized assessment used in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and some swing beds to capture administrative and clinical data for residents. The information compiled in the MDS assessment is used to create resident care plans and determine reimbursement, and it impacts quality measures.

As a warning, SNF personnel should be on the lookout for any denials related to the new ICD-10 codes, according to Deanna Peterson, the special guest during the next live edition of Talk Ten Tuesdays. Peterson, senior vice president of operations and LTPAC services for First Class Solutions and the featured guest on the next upcoming edition of Talk Ten Tuesdays, will report that residents with invalid ICD-10 codes will need those codes to be updated to avoid denials.

The weekly live broadcast will also feature these outstanding segments and thought leaders:

• Coding Report: Laurie Johnson, senior healthcare consultant for Revenue Cycle Solutions, LLC, will report on the latest coding news.

• SDoH Report: Tiffany Ferguson, a subject-matter expert on the social determinants of health (SDoH), will report on the news that’s happening at the intersection of coding and the SDoH.

• News Desk: Timothy Powell, CPA, will anchor the Talk Ten Tuesdays News Desk.

• TalkBack: Erica Remer, MD, founder and president of Erica Remer, MD, Inc., and Talk Ten Tuesdays co-host, will report on a subject that has caught her attention during her popular segment.

MINOCA (myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries) and INOCA (ischemia with non-obstructive coronary arteries) pertain generally to coronary artery disease. During the next live edition of the long-running and popular Internet broadcast Talk Ten Tuesdays, Pam Scott will take you on a coding journey into these conditions and the microvasculature of the heart – located downstream from the epicardial vessels and featuring structures as small as a human hair, which cannot be assessed with a cardiac catheter.

She’ll point out along the way that often, a patient might have symptoms and other diagnostic evidence of coronary artery disease, although when cardiac catheterization is performed, the large epicardial vessels are not blocked (which would explain the symptoms). What has happened in such a case is often that coronary microvascular dysfunction (CDM) restricts the flow of blood to the myocardium and increases resistance in the microvasculature.

Scott will look at new codes intended to identify these conditions, and will discuss the documentation required to assign these codes.

The weekly live broadcast will also feature these outstanding segments and thought leaders:

• SDoH Report: Tiffany Ferguson, a subject-matter expert on the social determinants of health (SDoH), will report on the news that’s happening at the intersection of coding and the SDoH.

• News Desk: Timothy Powell, CPA, will anchor the Talk Ten Tuesdays News Desk.

• TalkBack: Erica Remer, MD, founder and president of Erica Remer, MD, Inc., and Talk Ten Tuesdays co-host, will report on a subject that has caught her attention during her popular segment.

With thousands of followers on social media, Dr. Robert Oubre, aka “The Doctor of Documentation,” will make his Talk Ten Tuesdays debut on Tuesday, Nov. 7, when he will be the broadcast’s special guest.

Dr. Oubre will be reporting on what documentation considerations should be given when patients are reading physician notes appearing on the monitor screen of the electronic medical record (EMR). He is expected to cite the 21st Century Cures Act, which went into effect April 5, 2021, mandating that U.S. healthcare providers give access to all health information in their EMRs “without delay” and without charge to their patients. Many providers feared the passing of this legislation, but more than two years later, have those fears proved justified?

Dr. Oubre is also expected to raise rhetorical questions such as when physicians should reconsider some of the habitual language they may use in medicine that may be offensive to patients.

Angela Comfort, former American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) senior director for coding services-turned-senior healthcare consultant, will substitute for Dr. Erica Remer. Comfort currently serves as the transformational leader for Montefiore Health System.

The weekly live broadcast will also feature these outstanding segments and thought leaders:

• Coding Report: Laurie Johnson, senior healthcare consultant for Revenue Cycle Solutions, LLC, will report on the latest coding news.

• SDoH Report: Tiffany Ferguson, a subject-matter expert on the social determinants of health (SDoH), will report on the news that’s happening at the intersection of coding and the SDoH.

• News Desk: Timothy Powell, CPA, will anchor the Talk Ten Tuesdays News Desk.

• Point of View: The forementioned Angela Comfort, the Talk Ten Tuesdays guest cohost, will report on a subject that has caught her attention.

Like autumn leaves, new codes and guidelines are raining down on hospitals and physician practices, impacting coders, clinical documentation integrity specialists (CDISs), and professionals managing the revenue cycle.

And while there appears to be no respite, the weary can take comfort during the next live edition of the long-running and popular Talk Ten Tuesdays Internet broadcast, produced by ICD10monitor. That’s when the legendary Rose Dunn, past president of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and current COO for First Class Solutions, will join the broadcast. Rose is expected to report on the latest nuances of effectively managing the revenue cycle while concurrently addressing the plethora of new codes and coding guidelines.

The weekly live broadcast will also feature these outstanding segments and thought leaders:

• Coding Report: Laurie Johnson, senior healthcare consultant for Revenue Cycle Solutions, LLC, will report on the latest coding news.

• SDoH Report: Tiffany Ferguson, a subject-matter expert on the social determinants of health (SDoH), will report on the news that’s happening at the intersection of coding and the SDoH.

• News Desk: Timothy Powell, CPA, will anchor the Talk Ten Tuesdays News Desk.

• TalkBack: Erica Remer, MD, founder and president of Erica Remer, MD, Inc., and Talk Ten Tuesdays co-host, will report on a subject that has caught her attention.

As the demand for telehealth services has surged, the nuances of coding and documentation for virtual visits present unique challenges and opportunities. During the next live edition of Talk Ten Tuesdays, Angela Comfort will delve into the specifics of coding for telehealth, including the evolving Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) guidelines, and the importance of accurate documentation to ensure compliance and proper reimbursement.

Also, during her segment, Comfort is expected to explore the future of telehealth coding – and what coding professionals should anticipate as telehealth usage continues to grow.

The weekly broadcast will also feature these outstanding segments and thought leaders:

• Coding Report: Patricia Chua, chief operating officer for the Innova Revenue Group, will report on the latest coding news. She will be substituting for Laurie Johnson.

• SDoH Report: Tiffany Ferguson, a subject-matter expert on the social determinants of health (SDoH), will report on the news that’s happening at the intersection of coding and the SDoH.

• News Desk: Timothy Powell, CPA, will anchor the Talk Ten Tuesdays News Desk.

• TalkBack: Erica Remer, MD, founder and president of Erica Remer, MD, Inc., and Talk Ten Tuesdays co-host, will report on a subject that has caught her attention.

A must-have resource for any coding or clinical documentation integrity specialist (CDIS) is the American Hospital Association (AHA) Coding Clinic. Each quarterly issue provides official guidance for ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS coding for all healthcare settings.

The third-quarter issue covers a variety of topics, from prescribed marijuana use for chronic pain during pregnancy to subcapsular hematoma, epidural hematoma, and several ICD-10-PCS procedures – Hemospray, HeRO® Graft, and NAVA among them, for example.

The fourth-quarter issue contains details on the new codes for the 2024 fiscal year (FY), their use, and official guideline changes. In addition, this issue provides new insight into the coding of “intraoperative serosal tears,” which is extremely helpful.  

During the next live edition of Talk Ten Tuesdays, senior healthcare consultant Gloryanne Bryant will be the broadcast’s special guest. As an accomplished webcast leader, she will walk you through the third and fourth quarters of the AHA coding clinic.

The weekly broadcast will also feature these outstanding segments and thought leaders:

• Coding Report: Laurie Johnson, senior healthcare consultant with Revenue Cycle Solutions, LLC, will have the latest coding news.
• SDoH Report: Tiffany Ferguson, a subject-matter expert on the social determinants of health (SDoH), will report on the news that’s happening at the intersection of coding and the SDoH.
• News Desk: Timothy Powell, CPA, will anchor the Talk Ten Tuesdays News Desk.
  
  
• TalkBack: Erica Remer, MD, founder and president of Erica Remer, MD, Inc., and Talk Ten Tuesdays co-host, will report on a subject that has caught her attention during her popular segment.

The nation’s healthcare spotlight will shine on the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) during the organization’s live AHIMA23 Conference, gaveling to order Oct. 8 through Oct. 10 at the Baltimore Convention Center.

During the next live edition of Talk Ten Tuesdays, the legendary Rose Dunn, former AHIMA president and CEO, will be the broadcast’s special guest. She will report on activities taking place there, as several thousand HIM and other healthcare professionals gather for the annual event. Dunn is the current chief operating officer for First Class Solutions, a frequent guest on Talk Ten Tuesdays, and a member of the ICD10monitor Editorial Board.

Additionally, Dr. James S. Kennedy, founder of CDIMD, will serve as the broadcast’s cohost, reporting from the conference floor.

The weekly broadcast will also feature these outstanding segments and thought leaders:

• Coding Report: Laurie Johnson, senior healthcare consultant with Revenue Cycle Solutions, LLC, will have the latest coding news.

• SDoH Report: Dr. Juliet Ugarte Hopkins, immediate past president of the American College of Physician Advisors (ACPA), will substitute for Tiffany Ferguson to report the news that’s happening at the intersection of coding and the social determinants of health (SDoH).

• News Desk: Timothy Powell, CPA, will anchor the Talk Ten Tuesdays News Desk.

• Point of View: The aforementioned Dr. James S. Kennedy, Talk Ten Tuesdays guest co-host, will report on a subject that has caught his attention.