Wiki AAPC Challenge

Status
Not open for further replies.
Create Wiki
Coding Challenge answers

I have been unable to get the answers to the first 2 questions - is anyone else having the same problem? The screencast tutorial does not play. :(
 
I agree with the diag of 729.1 for day 2 as well as the rationale for not reporting the code related to spine. As I am not able to see the screencast, can anyone share why the thoracic spine code was selected?
 
MandyFlagg said:
I answered with 729.1 (myofascial pain) and then 724.1 for the location of thoracic pain....Oh well on to the next!
Click to expand...

I agree with you on the diagnosis, it does not specify thoracic spine.

Gina D. Belafonte CPC, CPC-H, CPMA, COSC, CGSC
Coding and Reimbursement Manager
 
ajgibson said:
The answer to Case #2 is 20553, 724.1.
I DISAGREE with the dx code, though.
The diagnosis was "Thoracic myofascial pain", NOT "Thoracic Spine pain".
I am fairly certain myo- means muscle, and fascia is "a thin sheath of fibrous tissue enclosing a muscle or other organ."
None of those definitions says anything about bone/spine.

Either way, another one down... Good luck
Click to expand...


I also coded as 729.1 for the myofascial pain. It isn't documented as thoracic spine.
 
I am not able to get the answers to come up either. Frustrating! I think AAPC should have worked out the kinks before starting this!:mad:
 
In reviewing the leaderboard... An employee Rhonda Buckholtz is the leader on the list twice??? Really?:rolleyes: Who has the time to submit the answer 100 times????
 
Answers to Coding Challenge Cases

Answer have been posted and are showing up.

Dx for case # 2 has been coded to 724.1 for thoracic myofascial pain. This should have been 729.1 as the pain was myofascial and thoracic was just the anatomical area. Any comments?

Thanks,


AJ
 
Mandy,

I'm can't apologize enough about the slow communication. The challenge took a lot of time to launch (and fix). we're now at a point where we can respond more quickly. I think we've worked through the majority of the bugs. Unfortunately, it may be too late as some entrants may have thrown in the towel.

The answer screencast should be functioning and we posted the first leaderboard update showing day 1 results. We're working on having the leaderboard up to date more quickly.

If it's any consolation, we plan on having a few random drawings for everyone entered in the contest as a peace offering for the early issues.

Thanks for expressing your concerns on the forum.

Alex
 
I have gotten all the answers correct but the site is not picking up my name or giving me points .. I have been a member for along time - What's up w/the site?

Marybeth Holland COC CPC
 
Ok, here's what I found:

"Thoracic myofascial pain involves the muscles associated with the thorax or chest and the thoracic spine. The muscles of the thorax consist of the diaphragm and the intercostal muscles (e.g., sternalis, pectoralis major), which are arranged in three layers. The muscles of the thoracic spine (e.g., levator scapulae, rhomboideus), explained elsewhere in this chapter, are also arranged in three layers. The muscles in the anterior chest that are likely to be affected are pectoralis major and minor, sternocleidomastoid, subclavius, sternalis, and scalene muscles. Myofascial pain in the upper and midthoracic region is usually due to the trapezius, multifidis, latissimus dorsi, serratus posterior, superior and inferior, rhomboids, and levator scapulae.".

I guess since the Preop and Post OP diagnosis did not specify thoracic spine and just thoracic myofascial pain, can one code on the basis of where the Trigger point injections were injected?

Nidhi M., CPC
 
Case #2 DX

I disagreed with 724.1. Because they made a point to state that the patient has metastatic lung cancer and had a right lung resection, I felt the thoracic myofascial pain originated there. I used 338.3 Neoplasm related pain (acute) (chronic).
And I can only access the answers and new cases through Mozilla Fox.
 
When I opened the site this morning it is giving me the option to enter the answer to case #3 again. Does this mean my answer didn't go through yesterday? It said it did at the time, but with all the weird glitches I thought I would ask.
 
spatch said:
I disagreed with 724.1. Because they made a point to state that the patient has metastatic lung cancer and had a right lung resection, I felt the thoracic myofascial pain originated there. I used 338.3 Neoplasm related pain (acute) (chronic).
And I can only access the answers and new cases through Mozilla Fox.
Click to expand...

The provider would need to document that the pain is due to the neoplasm for that answer.
I use mozilla also and can now access the answers.
 
Challenged so far...

This is great...I made an attempt at day one, although I don't deal a lot with the repair coding. Day two I thought I did well because we do in-house trigger point injections...I got the CPT down but for the ICD-9 I used both 724.1 and 729.1 as one was thoracic pain and then the other was for the muscle pain I figured I needed both.

Day three, I can't wait to see the results. We do well-child visits and immunization all the time so I'm hopeful that maybe I finally got a point.

We'll see. Either way I'm having a great time testing myself each day!

:)
 
Screencast Tutorial is a Joke

I finally got the answer tutorial to work on Tuesday through Safari, worked yesterday as well. Whatever they did between then and now killed it. I can't get it to work on IE, Safari, Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox. Is there any possible way these can just be posted IN WRITING via PDF?? Does it REALLY need to be a video?? I'm about done with this....way too much time getting in and getting anything to work.
 
case #2 dx of 729.1

It looks like quite a few of us chose dx 729.1 vs. 724.1, which was noted as the correct dx. Has this been changed?

Also, has the update with points been corrected yet? This contest is getting quite frustrating!!!:confused:
 
I am having the same problem with the tutorial...I used google chrome and modizilla yesterday doesn't work today. Also, I had the first one correct and if they allow the 729.1 to be correct that will make two so far for me, but I have received no points and I called yesterday and someone was to call me back, never heard back. I agree it is fun to participate, but the tutorial and points are not working in my favor...:mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
Last edited:
I am not in this to win it necessarily, I just love to practice and test my knowledge. But I have to agree that this is getting quite frustrating. I don't have much spare time at work each day to struggle with getting the new case and answers. It is not productive or educational if I don't even know if I got it right.

Please AAPC, put the answers in writing!!!! While a video explanation is nice, it would be even better if we could just see if we got it right or wrong quickly, since the leaderboard doesn't seem to reflect the correct scores.

Just wanted my voice to be heard on that. Also, I too chose 729.1.
 
wrong email

I put in the wrong email on the 2nd one, is there a way i could still get credit for that one? The wrong email I put in was stacee.linn@yahoo.com
The email attached to my account with AAPC is mcstaceelinn@rocketmail.com
I use both of them but the 2nd one is for business related purposes.

Also can we just get what the answer is instead of a video?
I think the coder is good to verify but we should be relying on our own coding skills. I would like to see more stuff like this without relying on the coder.
 
Not working at all for me...

This did seem like a fun way to burn some time during my lunch break, but I can't continue to participate because all the glitches. I haven't been able to get any of the answers to show. Thanks to the people that posted the answers in this thread up until this point. I was marked incorrect on the first case because I used a LT modifier.....which I think is entirely appropriate and shouldn't have been marked wrong. I have never received a denial over a LT/RT modifier.

I also was marked wrong on #2 for the same reasons everyone else was...I used 729.1. The record would need more information to code 724.1 in my opinion.

I have found in the past that materials and quizzes from AAPC are filled with errors. I purchased a code-a-round a few years ago and was marked wrong on a few answers because they wanted the codes from a code set 2 years prior. (It took several emails to AAPC before I even found this information) I was also marked wrong on a skin case because I did not append a LT/RT modifier. So...how about we get a little consistency!
 
alex.mckinley@aapc.com said:
Mandy,

I'm can't apologize enough about the slow communication. The challenge took a lot of time to launch (and fix). we're now at a point where we can respond more quickly. I think we've worked through the majority of the bugs. Unfortunately, it may be too late as some entrants may have thrown in the towel.

The answer screencast should be functioning and we posted the first leaderboard update showing day 1 results. We're working on having the leaderboard up to date more quickly.

If it's any consolation, we plan on having a few random drawings for everyone entered in the contest as a peace offering for the early issues.

Thanks for expressing your concerns on the forum.

Alex
Click to expand...

Alex,
I greatly appreciate your message! I am enjoying the challenge and will continue! I completely understand how large it is, I just encourage some sort of response when questions are ask. Like I stated previously, I have never had this issue with AAPC and hoped this was just a fluke!

Thank you,
Mandy
 
I love challenges, but this is beyond frustration!

I am wondering if AAPC is using the same company that were responsible for the Obamacare website?
 
I am getting a little frustrated :mad:. I know I got the first case correct, but received no point:confused:. I got the second case wrong because of choosing 729.1, like everyone else. Now we can't see the third case's answer because the video won't play in any browser.
Why not just have the answer in the same format as the cases?:confused:
I'm pretty disappointed in this whole thing so far. Not at all how I expected this to be handled. :(
 
Amanda, I am with you on each of the points you make! Seriously, this blows my mind that they did not test this ahead of time?
 
points and answers

Please list the answers in written form, I am unable to open any of the videos to see the answers.
Also, I don't see any points for my submitted answers?
I am enjoying the challange of learning, I just cannot get to look at the questions at times til much later in the day.
Thanks
Nancy
 
jmaciulis said:
I am not in this to win it necessarily, I just love to practice and test my knowledge. But I have to agree that this is getting quite frustrating. I don't have much spare time at work each day to struggle with getting the new case and answers. It is not productive or educational if I don't even know if I got it right.

Please AAPC, put the answers in writing!!!! While a video explanation is nice, it would be even better if we could just see if we got it right or wrong quickly, since the leaderboard doesn't seem to reflect the correct scores.

Just wanted my voice to be heard on that. Also, I too chose 729.1.
Click to expand...

I agree with you, maybe there are also a number of those who are joining not to win but just to test their knowledge.

It would be better if they just put the answers in writing and include the rationale, that way we will learn how they came up with the correct code/s.

I haven't got any correct answer yet, first case, I had apprehension if I should code the Moh's, I still coded it. The second one, I also chose 729.1. Still waiting for the answer to the third case.


Marissa Reyes, MD, CPC
 
I to am just wanting to do the coding challenge to test my knowledge. I think this was a great idea and wish AAPC would do things like this more often. I agree it would be better to put the answers in writing and include the rationale, that way they wouldn't have to worry about trying to come up with a fix for some many different systems.
I hope all this issues doesn't scare them away from offering these types of challenges in the future.
 
Well this is day 3 for me and I think I'm done. Really enjoy the challenge, but not being able to see the videos for answers is annoying. A written response with rationales would be better than watching a video. And yesterday I wasn't able to access Case 3 until the early evening. It wouldn't come up in any browser on any platform. That's hardly fair or enticing. Maybe this is all a challenge in frustration!:)

I'd try a challenge again IF the bugs are worked out ahead of time. I've been enjoying some of the posts.
 
..... Really?

alex.mckinley@aapc.com said:
Hi Everyone,

We cannot apologize enough about the technical issues we are having with the answer video. A fix is in place. Below is a link to the case #3 video (02/04/15).

VIEW CASE #3 ANSWER VIDEO
Click to expand...

This video is marked private and cannot be viewed. Why not respond with the answer instead of yet another video that does not work for us?
 
Yes, the video now works.
The correct codes are
99382-25 V20.2
90707 V06.4
90713 V04.0
90700 V06.1
90748 V06.8
90716 V05.4
90471
90472x4

I definitely got this wrong because I chose the pediatric administrations and billed for the additional components, since I am a pediatrician's coder (90460 and 90461). I can't imagine a new patient that hasn't received any vaccines in over 18 months not being counselled/given paperwork on these... but it definitely wasn't documented in there that counselling was done.

Oh well, Good luck!
And lets hope tomorrow goes more smoothly!
 
ajgibson said:
Yes, the video now works.
The correct codes are
99382-25 V20.2
90707 V06.4
90713 V04.0
90700 V06.1
90748 V06.8
90716 V05.4
90471
90472x4

I definitely got this wrong because I chose the pediatric administrations and billed for the additional components, since I am a pediatrician's coder (90460 and 90461). I can't imagine a new patient that hasn't received any vaccines in over 18 months not being counselled/given paperwork on these... but it definitely wasn't documented in there that counselling was done.

Oh well, Good luck!
And lets hope tomorrow goes more smoothly!
Click to expand...


THANK YOU! A written summary of the answer is very much appreciated.

I definitely got this wrong. I read that 25 was not needed with a well child exam because vaccines are to be expected. I also did not code each individual V code because I had read that V20.2 covered them as well. I guess that was a bad resource that I had.

I had first coded the 90460 and 90461 because I too thought a child that age would be counselled, but I did change at last minute because it was not documented.

I feel as though I am learning some valuable things, but other things seem to be a bit off. But that is the nature of coding, I guess. It can be very subjective.
 
ajgibson said:
Yes, the video now works.
The correct codes are
99382-25 V20.2
90707 V06.4
90713 V04.0
90700 V06.1
90748 V06.8
90716 V05.4
90471
90472x4

I definitely got this wrong because I chose the pediatric administrations and billed for the additional components, since I am a pediatrician's coder (90460 and 90461). I can't imagine a new patient that hasn't received any vaccines in over 18 months not being counselled/given paperwork on these... but it definitely wasn't documented in there that counselling was done.

Oh well, Good luck!
And lets hope tomorrow goes more smoothly!
Click to expand...
How can this be the correct answer? Instead of the 90707 plus the 90716 why not use the 90710? It dies not say they were give separate and since it us combined and the instruction state to not separate them why not use that code which then changes the number of injections total to 3. Where is the rationale?
 
Last edited:
Point/score

Aloha,
Our group is participating in this, however we're in Hawaii. Being that we're in a different time zone, will there ever be a chance that we may win? Can you confirm how the winner is being selected? First one to answer? OR all the coders with the correct answers get put in a hat and whoever's name is drawn is the winner for the day? Aside from the points and prizes, this is a good "test" for us.

Mahalo
 
Case #3

jmaciulis said:
THANK YOU! A written summary of the answer is very much appreciated.

I definitely got this wrong. I read that 25 was not needed with a well child exam because vaccines are to be expected. I also did not code each individual V code because I had read that V20.2 covered them as well. I guess that was a bad resource that I had.

I had first coded the 90460 and 90461 because I too thought a child that age would be counselled, but I did change at last minute because it was not documented.

I feel as though I am learning some valuable things, but other things seem to be a bit off. But that is the nature of coding, I guess. It can be very subjective.
Click to expand...

I can't believe I did this! I had all of the CPT codes, modifier and the V20.2. Then I forgot to add the V-codes for the vaccines!! :mad: I guess that means I have to be more attentive.
 
mitchellde said:
How can this be the correct answer? Instead of the 90707 plus the 90716 why not use the 90710? It dies not say they were give separate and since it us combined and the instruction state to not separate them why not use that code which then changes the number of injections total to 3. Where is the rationale?
Click to expand...


The combination vaccines are actually one vaccine with the combined components, therefore they have differen't NDC's. They are not interchangeable and you can not choose a code just because it contains all the vaccines given individually.
I definitely THOUGHT about combining them, but remembered myself. :)
 
ajgibson said:
The combination vaccines are actually one vaccine with the combined components, therefore they have differen't NDC's. They are not interchangeable and you can not choose a code just because it contains all the vaccines given individually.
I definitely THOUGHT about combining them, but remembered myself. :)
Click to expand...

Yes I thought that way but without the note indicating that they were given separate, and the CPT book indicating that it is incorrect to separate them, then from a text book perspective, you should use the combined code.
I have overthought each one of these.
 
729.1 v 724.1

729.1 was my answer for case #2 due to the word paraspinal in the post-operative diagnosis and the body of the report which, by definition, is areas surrounding the spine which would include musculature. This was specified as a myofascial defined as relating to the fascia surrounding and separating muscle tissue.

There is nothing in the body of the report specifying either a procedure IN the spine or the pain being IN the spine as ICD-9 724.1 clearly indicates.

My opinion remains that 729.1 applies in this case.

I would like to receive an e-mail from the AAPC detailing the reasoning and sources behind 729.1 to clarify the answer given.
 
kgodda1 said:
This did seem like a fun way to burn some time during my lunch break, but I can't continue to participate because all the glitches. I haven't been able to get any of the answers to show. Thanks to the people that posted the answers in this thread up until this point. I was marked incorrect on the first case because I used a LT modifier.....which I think is entirely appropriate and shouldn't have been marked wrong. I have never received a denial over a LT/RT modifier.

I also was marked wrong on #2 for the same reasons everyone else was...I used 729.1. The record would need more information to code 724.1 in my opinion.

I have found in the past that materials and quizzes from AAPC are filled with errors. I purchased a code-a-round a few years ago and was marked wrong on a few answers because they wanted the codes from a code set 2 years prior. (It took several emails to AAPC before I even found this information) I was also marked wrong on a skin case because I did not append a LT/RT modifier. So...how about we get a little consistency!
Click to expand...

Agree with finding many errors in past AAPC materials. This is appearing to be another example, unfortunately.
 
martnel said:
I love challenges, but this is beyond frustration!

I am wondering if AAPC is using the same company that were responsible for the Obamacare website?
Click to expand...

Well said! Probably handled Maryland's Exchange, too. Now video on case 3 marked as private preventing access. Quickly losing interest.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top