HCC Coding and Documentation: A Coders View

• Presenter: Susan Wyatt, CPC, CPMA, CPC-I
• Broadcast On: 1/23/2013
  10:00am PT / 11:00am MT / 12:00pm CT / 1:00pm ET
• On Demand Availability: Immediately following live event
• Presentation Length: 60 minutes
• Attendee Rating:
  
• 1 CEU

  A

  Coding Billing Auditing Compliance Management

Overview:

The Medicare Risk Adjustment model has been around for 13 years now and coders and providers are still struggling to understand it. Understanding how the model works and the payment methodology is one thing but there is more of a need to understand how to document and code the diagnoses in the ICD-9 book to the highest level of specificity. The diagnoses and how to document and code them is nothing new in regards to this model. The ICD codes and their descriptions have been around since the ICD book came out in the 50's. The problem lies in that the providers have not had any specific training on what diagnoses there are to choose from in the ICD-9 book and how to document them to the highest level of specificity. On the same note the coders or billers generally are not thoroughly trained in ICD code assignment and when to query the provider for a more specific diagnosis. Being more specific in your documentation and code assignment of the diagnoses applies across the board to every patient regardless of their insurance. However, the payment methodology for the Risk Adjustment HCC model, Hierarchical Condition Categories, applies to Medicare Advantage Plans.

You Will Learn:

• The Medicare Risk Adjustment model and how the payment methodology works.
• Which diagnoses are in the HCC model
• How to document specific diagnoses in the HCC model to the highest level of specificity
• Some coding guidelines to follow when assigning an ICD9 code.
• Required documentation elements needed in the progress note to pass an audit.

* Webinar Policy: Webinars are for single-office (one physical office location, e.g. a conference room) use only and may not be rebroadcast, shared or disseminated. Each webinar subscription or purchase entitles the user to one online connection or one back-up phone line – use of more than one phone line and phone conferencing is prohibited. AAPC local chapters or other groups of individuals representing multiple companies or separate offices within a single facility do not constitute a "single-office" and may not share a single event or webinar subscription. All webinar subscriptions expire December 31.

To contact the webinar department, email webinars@aapc.com or call (800) 626-2633, option 4.