Record numbers anticipated for the annual event

Each year, the American Academy of Professional Coders’ National Conference draws attendees from across the globe. Record numbers are anticipated for the 17th Annual National Conference at The Rio Hotel in Las Vegas April 5-8, 2009. The 2009 National Conference promises to provide coders, physicians and health care professionals with up-to-date and necessary educational courses. Registration for the conference is now open. Read more »

Through December 1, we will be accepting applications for 2009-2011 National Advisory Board Members.

The role of the National Advisory Board (NAB) is to advise the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) leadership on coding issues and questions, and enthusiastically promote and support the mission of AAPC and the coding profession. The NAB works with the national office for the betterment of the entire membership and the medical coding community through active participation in nationally sponsored conferences, events, publications, educational programs and activities.

A position on the NAB is a voluntary appointment for a period of two years commencing on April 8, 2009 and ending at the end of the 2011 National Conference. The NAB includes 16 members appointed by the AAPC representing eight geographical regions and four officers elected by the NAB including president, president-elect, member relations, and secretary. The CEO and a liaison represent AAPC.

Submit Your Application

We’ve learned a lot in the year we’ve offered specialized certification. For 2009, we will be implementing a number of improvements to what will be 18 specialty credentials, allowing health care professionals to demonstrate superior levels of expertise in selected disciplines. Read more »

To show the added complexity that providers will face when using ICD-10-CM, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association converted a superbill from ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM.

• View the original ICD-9-CM superbill
• View the ICD-10-CM superbill created using CMS crosswalks

Important things to understand from this exercise:

1. A superbill is a form used by medical practitioners and clinicians so they can quickly complete and submit the procedure(s) and diagnosis(s) for a patient visit for reimbursement. It is generally customized for a provider office and contains patient information, the most common CPT (procedure) and ICD (diagnostic) codes used by that office, and a section for items such as follow-up appointments, copays, and the provider’s signature. Read more »

New Study Finds ICD-10 Mandate Hardship for Health Care Providers
Typical 10-physician practice to spend $285,240 to comply with new federal mandate

(Washington, DC)— A controversial proposed rule from the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) requiring all physician practices and other providers to adopt a new coding set – the ICD-10 code set – by 2011 would dramatically increase costs for physician practices and clinical laboratories, according to a new cost study initiated by a broad group of provider organizations and conducted by Nachimson Advisors. Armed with this new information, these groups call on HHS to carefully reassess its plan to rapidly adopt ICD-10 and extend the implementation time frame. The costs associated with implementing ICD-10 in such a short timeframe, are markedly higher than what CMS has estimated and will place a major burden on providers, taking valuable time away from their patients and straining other resources needed to invest in health information technology. Read more »

New ICD-10 study confirms CMS underestimates costs and time required to implement complex new code set

The American Academy of Dermatology, American Academy of Professional Coders, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Clinical Laboratory Association, American College of Physicians, American Medical Association, American Optometric Association, American Physical Therapy Association, American Society of Anesthesiology, and the Medical Group Management Association retained Nachimson Advisors to assess the cost impact of the proposed ICD-10 rule on providers. Nachimson Advisors estimated the cost impact of an ICD-10 mandate on three different provider practices:

• A typical “small” practice, comprised of three physicians and two impacted administrative staff.

• A typical “medium” practice, comprised of 10 providers, one full-time coder, and six impacted administrative staff.

• A typical “large” practice, comprised of 100 providers, with 64 coding staff comprised of 10 full-time coders and 54 impacted medical records staff. Read more »

Sunlight on Coders’ Compensation

By Brad Ericson, CPC, CPC-ORTHO

Ask coders what they do and how much they make, and their answers are as varied as how sensitive to the sun they are. Some are easy burners, with salaries and careers that show the results of outside forces quickly. Some are seemingly immune to the forces that buffet our careers. All-in-all, we’re doing pretty well; and, it appears that average salaries have increased more than 11 percent since our survey in 2007.

Sunning the Fruit Trees
This year’s survey was completed by more coders than ever and conducted via the internet during July and August. Over 12,000 coders participated. Like trees in the sun, the information continues to bear fruit, but here are some highlights. Read more »

Providers benefit from using coders with the skills and credentials that best address the type of services they report. The CCS and CCS-P credentials from the American Health Information Management Associate (AHIMA) focus primarily on inpatient coding, while the CPC® and CPC-H® credentials, awarded by the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC), stress a mastery of outpatient coding.1

All healthcare providers rely on medical coders to translate medical records into billable claims. Accurate coding ensures that providers capture every legitimate reimbursement opportunity, while improving data collection and reducing compliance burdens. Providers have likewise learned that careless, uninformed coding has serious compliance and reimbursement consequences. Read more »

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Friday a long-awaited proposed regulation that would replace the ICD-9-CM code sets now used to report health care diagnoses and procedures with greatly expanded ICD-10-CM (diagnosis) and ICD-10-PCS (hospital procedure) code sets, effective Oct. 1, 2011. In a separate proposed regulation, HHS has proposed adopting the updated X12 standard, Version 5010, and the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs standard, Version D.0, for electronic transactions, such as health care claims. Version 5010 is essential to use of the ICD-10 codes. Read more »

New standalone coding certification meets demand for vetted coding expertise

Rapid changes to codes, procedures and technologies, along with varying governing rules and regulations for Medicare and Medicaid, have created an increasingly complex environment for individuals working in the interventional radiology and cardiovascular subspecialty. To help successfully navigate through these coding challenges and decrease reimbursement and compliance errors, the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC, www.aapc.com) announces a new credential, the Certified Interventional Radiology Cardiovascular Coder™ (CIRCC). Read more »