Wiki E/M- High Complexity of Problems

[mroberson4]

Last week in the E/M workshop on Mastering E/M Documentation Challenges, the presenter mentioned that the AMA has clarified that "in the near term", regarding the second bullet on the MDM table for High Complexity of Problems, "acute or chronic illness that poses a threat to life or bodily function in the near term without treatment", means within a day or two, a few days, less than a week. I can't seem to find this anywhere in writing by AMA or CMS. I have also watched all of AMA's webinars on E/M and did not hear this. Can anyone point me to the AMA document or webinar where they clarify the meaning of "in the near term"?

 

[luvbuix]

sounds like they are trying to backtrack to keep people from using the guidelines they created!! i work in oncology & we consider our active cancer pts to have severe exacerbation, progression, or side effects of treatment & if that isn't enough- 1 (sometimes more) acute or chronic illness that poses a threat to life or bodily function. everybody is different. to try to peghole everybody into a certain timeframe never works. a person with pancreatic cancer can live 2 days after dx & tx or they could live 2 years or more after dx & tx. so- are they trying to say the risk for the 1st pt is greater because they died sooner? does that make the risk & decision making for pt 2 any less risky??