Click here for more sample CPC practice exam questions with Full Rationale Answers

Practice Exam

Click here for more sample CPC practice exam questions and answers with full rationale

Practice Exam

CPC Practice Exam and Study Guide Package

Practice Exam

What makes a good CPC Practice Exam? Questions and Answers with Full Rationale

CPC Exam Review Video

Laureen shows you her proprietary “Bubbling and Highlighting Technique”

Download your Free copy of my "Medical Coding From Home Ebook" at the top right corner of this page

Practice Exam

2018 CPC Practice Exam Answer Key 150 Questions With Full Rationale (HCPCS, ICD-9-CM, ICD-10, CPT Codes) Click here for more sample CPC practice exam questions with Full Rationale Answers

Practice Exam

Click here for more sample CPC practice exam questions and answers with full rationale

Ob-gyn coding: Polish up your twin delivery, ultrasound coding

Are you aware how to report ultrasounds and different-day deliveries? If not, you are not alone. Here our experts provide you with all the answers you need to get the most out of your multiple-gestation claims.

Issue 1: Determine different-day delivery coding strategy Oftentimes, multiple-gestation babies will be born on different days. For instance, a patient is at 38 weeks gestation and is carrying twins in two sacs. While one membrane ruptures, the ob-gyn delivers the baby vaginally. A couple of days later, the second ruptures and the second baby delivers vaginally as well.

Solution: You should report the first baby as a delivery only on that date of service. For the second, you should bill the global code (59400) on that date of service, assuming the doctor provided prenatal care. The reason behind not billing the global first is that you are still offering prenatal care owing to the retained twin.

You will have to attach a letter explaining the situation to the insurance company as the right diagnosis for every delivery is twins even though the ob-gyn has delivered only one. Your payers will require you to use the outcome codes, however you may have to explain that it is still twins even though only the first baby was delivered.

For more tips on ways to fine tune your twin delivery, ultra sound coding and for other ob-gyn coding tips, register yourself for an audio conference. When you sign up for one, you’ll know exactly how to report ultrasounds and different-day deliveries, get all the 2011 ICD-9-CM update for ob-gyn and lots more!

The best part of attending such an ob-gyn coding conference is that you get to attend it from just about anywhere. And to cap it all, such a conference also provides you with those much-needed CEUs to keep your certification up and running!

Audioeducator offers medical coding audio conference and provides advanced Learning Opportunities about medical coding update through all types of audio conferences and exceptional series of training CD’s, DVD’s & Tapes.

Coding & Billing: Clarify ‘Present & Immediately Available’

‘Physically present and available’ can be one of the most difficult factors to determine when confirming medical direction. You should keep these guides in mind when deciding whether your anesthesiologist’s claim still merits medical direction modifiers QY or QK.

Think about individual circumstances

Vague medical direction rules like ‘remains physically present and available for immediate diagnosis and treatment of emergencies’ allow for individual interpretation.

Defining ‘immediately available’ accurately is more than looking at the hospital’s blueprints to see how far your physician walks down the hall. Interpretation also takes each situation into account. For instance, the anesthesiologist needs to be more easily available to help during an emergency when he is medically directing an aneurysm repair versus a hernia repair.

Think about these three factors when trying to determine what qualifies as ‘physically present and available’ in your hospital.

OR Size:

Service location:

Patient condition:

Key determinant: Think how quickly the anesthesiologist could help the medically directed CRNA in the event of an emergency. If the anesthesiologist is away from the OR suite or outside the surgery department, is he ‘immediately available’ to return if required? If so, his work might still fit under the medical direction umbrella; if not, you might need to rethink his status.

Know how the factors impact coding & billing

The factors listed above will not change your code for the procedure itself, however can change the anesthesiologist’s performance modifier and his reimbursement. If the anesthesiologist personally carries out a case, you know where he is for the entire procedure and report modifier AA with the procedure code. The carrier shells out money for the entire case.

Coding gets tougher when the anesthesiologist oversees other members of the team rather than personally performs cases. If he medically directs one CRNA, report modifier QY with the procedure code; if he directs from two to four anesthetists, report modifier QK instead. Doctors who medically direct cases split the procedure fee with the other anesthetist involved.

For more on this and other medical coding updates , sign up for a one-stop medical coding website.

We provide you simple, instant connection to official code descriptors & guidelines and other tools for 2010 CPT code, HCPCS lookup that help coders and billers to excel in the work they do every day.

Related Medical Coding Articles

Five Strategies To Ease Your Sports Exam Coding

Getting calls all year-round from parents requesting sports physicals for their children might be a common feature for your pediatric practice. Even though the physical may be fairly simple to carry out, it is not always straightforward to code.

If you are clueless about how to code a sports exam, think about these choices that will put your CPT coding on the right track while dodging non-payment issues.

Perform less and code office visit

When a pediatrician provides a true sports exam, CPT offers no direct match. Pediatricians may provide a shortened well-care visit, in which they assess the risks, perform an exam, and order vaccine and labs.

Encourage full well check

In order to avoid V70.3 non-coverage issues, try to schedule patients for preventive medicine services rather than for sports physicals. Sometimes parents misinterpret the sports physical as the child or adolescent’s complete annual physical examination. Having the patient come in for the annual ensures she gets the full service.

Consider forms policy

For patients who have received a recent preventive medicine service, think about using that information to complete a sports form. Few pediatric practices have a set fee the patient pays for this service such as a $ 20 forms fee.

Some practices will include completion of forms at the time of an E/M visit; however charge if the forms are brought in at another time. There’s additional office overhead involved if the chart must be pulled and reviewed, the form completed, mailed, or faxed, and the chart refiled.

Drawback: For liability reasons, your physician may not want to issue a form without checking the patient to see if his status has changed.

Charge parent

When a parent insists or the school calls for an abbreviated exam on a patient who has not had a well check in the previous half of the year, you might want to put into practice a financial plan. Physicals required for sports are normally the patient’s responsibility. Insurers normally do not cover the service.

Best practice: If you expect the insurer will not cover the sports physical, have the parent sign an advance beneficiary notice (ABN). Ensure the parent understands she will have to pay if the insurer does not cover the sports exam, and notify her of the price.

Tool: You can use a private payer version of Medicare’s form to educate the parent and ensure she is aware of her choices and responsibilities.

Check state scope of practice laws

Once you decide on the best strategy for your practice, confirm that your state allows you to use that technique. For instance, certain states publish guidelines indicating that a physical done within the last 12 months is enough and the patient does not require an updated form, whereas other states need children to bring in new forms for each individual sport they intend to play.

sign up for a medical coding guide like Supercoder.

We provide you simple, instant connection to official code descriptors & guidelines and other tools for 2010 CPT code, HCPCS lookup that help coders and billers to excel in the work they do every day.

Related Medical Coding Articles

Medical Coding and Billing Schools – How to Choose the One That’s Right for You!

Are you worried about having to go through many Medical Coding and Billing Schools just to find the best one for yourself? Do you know how to narrow down your search in order to find a school that best caters to your needs and provides you with the state of the art level of education?

Here are some of the key pointers to take into consideration when choosing from the different Medical Coding and Billing Schools you have in mind:

1. Learn what each school has to offer

The first step towards finding the right school for yourself is to get as much information as possible about the school, its curriculum, the courses offered and the accreditation policies. If the school offers a free information class, attend it. This will provide you some useful insight as to how the school and teachers operate, and you will get all the details you need to choose the best from different Medical Coding and Billing Schools.

2. Traditional vs. Online Schools

Getting an education is no more confined to classrooms or institutions. Now, with the introduction of distance learning and online schooling systems, you can enjoy the pleasure of receiving quality education within the comfort of your own house.

As far as Medical Coding and Billing training is concerned, whether you decide to take up a virtual class or a regular one, the coursework and study requirements are almost the same. Although having the support of a teacher around them does make quite a difference, students opting for distance learning can always contact their instructors via email or video conferencing to clear out any queries.

So, if you have a flexible schedule, try enrolling in one of the regular Medical Coding and Billing Schools, but if have to stick to a strict working schedule, then distance learning may be your best choice.

3. Length of Training

Another factor which you must take into consideration when choosing between different Medical Coding and Billing Schools is the length and duration of the training period. While making this decision, always ask yourself whether you are looking to get into the practical world as soon as possible or have the flexibility to allow yourself to fully master the skills of the job at hand.

Normally a certification course requires a minimum of six months, but at times it can also take as long as 12 to 24 months to master the different skills involved in this career.

There are many Medical Coding and Billing Schools located throughout the United States. All it takes for you to find the best is some proper research and a lot of effort.

Lisa Thomas is your guide to medical careers.

Learn about Medical Coding and Billing schools, job and salary. Search for health care schools near you and receive free information from Medical Coding and Billing schools schools at http://www.medicalassistantvacancies.com

Medical Billing And Coding – What Kind Of Salary Or Hourly Rate Can I Expect?

If you’ve been considering going into the medical billing or medical coding field you need to have some idea what you can make in terms of salary or wages and before you even think about getting any training in either field. There are a wide range of salaries and hourly rates offered depending on the type of facility, clinic, hospital or business or other places where you might work.

A lot will depend on whether you’re specializing in medical billing, medical coding or both- often called medical insurance specialists. Medical billers are known by a number of names including Certified Medical Billing Specialist. When looking for a job in these fields you can find various different titles advertised making it harder to know exactly what the job responsibilities really consist of.

Traditionally the federal government has always been one of the highest paying employers in many fields including the health and medical fields but this may not be the case today. One has to do a lot of checking around to compare salaries and hourly rates because so much has been changing due to the economy.

Typically in a medical billing job you can expect to make about $ 12 to $ 13 an hour if you have one year of experience. The rate goes up accordingly as you add more work experience especially in the same field or in using similar medical software. Exceptions may be made and you may get a higher starting salary if you have related job experience, especially experiences that will be helpful in your medical billing or medical coding job.

If you have college education in business related classes or courses, this can also help. Of course you can take medical billing training or medical coding training through a local college or through one of the many online medical billing schools or trade or vocational schools. Before you to commit to any expensive contract make sure you check out all the other options. You may not need to take all the classes recommended to get into this field. You want to take the bare minimum of education needed because you’ll pick up a lot of knowledge on the job.

Often many of the courses and classes have been found not to be needed. This takes a bit of research to find out exactly what you need to get a job in the medical billing or coding fields. You can try calling the human resources departments of the local hospitals, clinics, insurance companies, government agencies and billing services and start getting a feel for what is required on these jobs in terms of education. And continue to research online of course.

Next for secrets & tips on medical billing as a career or home business, choosing the best medical billing training, best medical coding and billing schools, online courses, work at home & financing see a nurse’s website: http://www.MedicalBillingTrainingInfo.com

Job of Medical Coder

The Job of Medical Coder Brings Opportunities for a Rewarding Career

The job of a medical coder with Private Dynamic Network in Chicago entails a wide range of onsite and offsite staffing opportunities. Medical coding is a job undertaken by medical records and billing coders, who are wholly responsible for assembling and maintaining all the medical records of a patient, so healthcare can be reviewed systematically. These records are crucially important in treating the patient, as records contain a collection of the important information like medical history of the patient, the observations records, surgical interventions, treatment outcomes, symptoms descriptions, examination results, X-rays and MRI reports, laboratory test results, diagnoses, and treatment plans.

Coders Are Responsible for Patient History Documentation and Billing

The job of a medical coder requires responsibility for documenting the entire history of the patient. Even if the cause of the medical aid is obligatory, such as in an ER, full documentation is required for patient treatment, billing and claims. These formalities are required to avoid any kind of healthcare fraud and abuse, or mistreatments or problems with medication interactions. As the basis for reimbursement, suitable medical record’s coding using CPT or ICD-9 standards is essential, as healthcare providers seek to comply with official coding guidelines. Medical data also solves various purposes for internal use by institutions with respect to quality management activities, future planning, marketing processes, and other administrative and research activities.

Medical Coders verify the patient’s initial medical chart, and make sure that all forms are filled out correctly. Coders regularly consult with physicians and healthcare professionals for patient diagnoses, and to obtain any other additional information that is required for a patient’s records. Medical Coders also tabulate and record data for future analysis, provide documentation whenever needed for any use in legal actions, and compile information to classify the reimbursement status of medical procedures by the insurance companies, Medicaid and Medicare.

The job of a medical coder also entails processing documents for patient admissions as well as discharge and patient history. Review of the accuracy of records, compliance with applicable regulations, entering data into computers concerning demographic characteristics, disease history, diagnoses and treatments’ makes the information available to persons and agencies according to regulations.

Medical Coders protect and secure medical records to ensure that confidentiality is maintained under HIPA guidelines, develop health record indices, work with storage and retrieval systems in order to gather information, and also transcribe doctor’s notes. In small facilities, a credentialed medical coder typically assumes a variety of duties that often includes management of a department. In larger or medium-sized facilities, each technician specializes in one aspect of health information. These settings usually include administrator management duties. Some common specialists in this field are medical coders and cancer registrars.

Review Job Openings in Chicago for Medical Coders, Billers and Transcriptionists

Certification for the Job of a Medical Coder

In order to enter the field of medical coding, an individual generally needs at least an associate’s degree from a community or junior college and the appropriate certifications. Preferably, the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM) should accredit this degree program. There are various postsecondary educational institutions that offer course scheduling and/or online distance learning programs or courses. Specific support coursework for students who desire work in this profession includes records structure, physiology, medical terminology, health data standards, data coding, statistics, and information technology courses.

Qualified, certified personnel can apply for the job of a medical coder with Private Dynamic Network in Chicago. We maintain onsite staffers and offsite coding labs. So, regardless of how you would like to work, we have opportunities for almost any certified medical coder.

Contact PDN Today to Apply for the Job of Medical Coder, Transcriptionist or Billing Specialist

Call PDN Today – Local Phone Calls: (708)747-4361

Businesses, Fax Service Inquiries to: (708)747-7057

PDN seek is a leading medical service provider from United State. We provide services including healthcare staffing, medical coding. Medical solutions have always been a fascination for us and we constantly look out for new technologies which makes the medical solutions even more powerful and interesting.

Anesthesia Coding – Get the Correct Codes For Transesophageal Echocardiography

The most common problem in anesthesia coding associated with billing and obtaining reimbursement for transesophageal echocardiography or TEE is determining whether the procedure is for diagnostic or monitoring purposes. It is often difficult to tell whether the TEE was diagnostic or not unless your physician identifies the study’s purpose. If you wish to bill for a diagnostic TEE, attach a written report, or else it’s unlikely to withstand the scrutiny of an audit.

CPT contains two sets of codes for diagnostic transesophageal echocardiography or TEE. For a diagnostic test, pay attention to whether the anesthesiologist places the probe, interprets and reviews the study, or provides both services. When your anesthesiologist places the probe and does not provide a written report, use the placement-only diagnostic TEE codes. Your physician sometimes might interpret the findings while another physician places the probe. Provided your anesthesiologist is the only physician to issue a written report of the diagnostic TEE, you would code for the “image acquisition, interpretation and report” only with 93314 for real-time TEE and 93316 for TEE for congenital cardiac anomalies.

Avoid truncated diagnosis codes in anesthesia coding. Make sure your anesthesiologist is as specific as possible when reporting diagnoses attached to TEE use. Merely linking the TEE code to a payable ICD-9 code is not sufficient. Clinical signs or symptoms must be present and documented.

Transesophageal echocardiography for monitoring is never paid nor is it ever unbundled. When TEE is used in dissection or with valvular repair, your anesthesiologist is diagnosing whether surgery fixed the lesion. Your anesthesiologist is then not monitoring, but telling the surgeon whether his repair has corrected the problem to an acceptable level. Here, he is playing an active role in management and doing more than just monitoring. If you include a full report in this case, you can bill a reimbursable code like 93312 or 93314, but make sure you do not label this report as monitoring, else you’ll not be entitled to reimbursement.

Stay on top of the CPT codes with the latest updates and expert tips on anesthesia coding, by attending anesthesia coding seminars. 

Keep on updating your anesthesia coding knowledge with anesthesia coding seminars and many other medical coding audio conferences with premier coding experts, CDs, tapes and transcripts of coding training information by specialty.

More Medical Coding Articles

Date Coding for Retail and Industrial Bakeries

It can be said that few people can resist a well stocked bakery. However, no matter how much it might have, and regardless of its acknowledgment to differing lifestyles and allergies, there can still be problems. One such problem is lack of proper labeling for expiration dates.

Less Confusion for Staff and Customers

Baked goods that are not labeled with the proper expiration date can lead to a lot of confusion. A customer might be in need of a cake for a birthday party, but if they do not know how long the cake will stay fresh, they will be less inclined to purchase one. The same can be said of bread and similar items, as well. Keeping the staff and anybody who visits the bakery properly informed on the lifespan of the food is a good way to stay in business.

Maintain a Good Reputation

Date coding can be crucial for present and future purchases. Somebody might take something home only to discover that it is long past its “best if used by” date. They might be angry that the baked good was not marked properly, if it was marked at all. Friends and family members are bound to hear of this dissatisfaction, and information will spread. This can lead to a great loss in business, and can make even the most well run bakery appear unprofessional. Businesses are learning that they need to keep a close eye on date coding, and the importance of increasing their efforts.

The Importance of a Good Pricing Gun

But bakeries that have operated poorly in regards to date coding need not give up hope. With the help of a quality dating gun, the process can prove to be quicker and easier. A Monarch gun can be carried to wherever it is needed, and the clear coloring used on the labels will not leave any room for misinformation or confusion. Many individuals and business alike are coming to the conclusion that investing in a Monarch Paxar can only mean good things, and this should not be dismissed. Whether it is called a Monarch gun or Monarch Paxar, it does not matter; in the end, proper labels, pricing guns and dating guns are very important.

Monarch gun come with great portability. Investing in Monarch Paxar is considered to be wise as well.

Coding In Fashionable Content Analysis

With Code book as a guide, the qualitative data content in the media is converted into different fashionable symbols, which are placed on the coding sheet. The Gucci code sheet is generally a paper on which rows and columns are drawn so that it contains a number of boxes.
Each box has a column number and a row number. Each unit of analysis is given a fixed column number and the data about a given variable of all the units of analysis is coded in a box. Now if we are analyzing a story on third page then we write 03 in column numbers 10 and 11 of the code sheet, which have been already specified for page numbers. While analyzing the next item, which appears, say on page 16 we will put 16 in the specified columns. Coding is very meticulous and time-consuming task. It needs lot of concentration on part of the researcher. It has to be done very carefully otherwise the whole research study may get spoiled. Sometimes we use more than one person to perform this task of coding. In such cases there is a possibility of variation between the coders.

For example one coder may think that the fashion accessories are balanced and the other coder may think that it is partly balanced. Therefore, in content analysis study it is of utmost importance that all the units of analysis as also the categories are explicitly defined and explained so that they are mutually exclusive.

Another method of managing the variations of perception of the coders is to check the inter-coder differences and then quote them in the report of the study. A very high variation in the coding perception will lead to distorted results for Gucci products. Generally so that the errors can be minimized communication researchers have also evolved formula to measure inter-coder differences.
Once the fashion coding has been done and checked, the data has to be tabulated.

Tabulation means counting of similar codes and also cross tabulation means counting of similar codes and also the tabulation of two or more Gucci product variables. If the data is small the tabulation can be done mainly by counting or by tally marks. But it is advisable that computer carry out the tabulation. There is much software available for such analysis.

The most commonly used special programmed for social science in Gucci cheap Gucci cap, Gucci sunglassescheap, cheap Gucci shoes, and cheap Gucci belts. The first step analysis is frequently tabulation where the numbers and percentage of each category are given in a tabular form. The second step is cross tabulation where two variables that are likely to influence each other or dependent upon each other are put across each other.

For any help on Gucci Jeans , check out the info available online, these will help you learn to find the Cheap Gucci shoes an instant go!

More Medical Coding Articles

Radiology Coding Company In Oklahoma

Most radiology medical practices and individual practitioners in the United States are looking for professional assistance to efficiently manage their diverse coding tasks. Accurate medical coding is very important when it comes to optimizing their collections. If your facility or practice is seeking radiology coding services, it is would be a good idea to look in Oklahoma. An experienced radiology coding company in Oklahoma can offer individual radiologists, group practitioners, hospitals, medical centers and clinics competent coding services at competitive prices.

Accurate Radiology Coding Services

Radiology coding companies in Oklahoma are well-equipped to provide quality radiology medical coding services. They employ certified medical coders proficient in HCPCS, CPT, ICD-9 codes and standards, and well aware of the latest government norms. They offer accurate coding solutions for interventional radiology procedures including ultrasound and diagnostic radiology imaging, as well as non-interventional procedures such as single or multiple views, standard radiographs, computerized tomography, contrast studies and magnetic resonance imaging. The core services of a reliable radiology coding company in Oklahoma would cover:

.Emergency room e-code evaluation
.Medical coding audits
.ICD-9 coding based on AMA and CMS guidelines
.ASCs – Ambulatory Surgical Centers Coding
.CPT medical coding
.Backlog coding resolution services
.Hospital/ in-patient coding
.DRG/ICD-9 CM coding validations

Locate an Established Company

Online resources are a great help when it comes to finding an established radiology coding company in Oklahoma. Searching web directories and the yellow pages with the zip code of the area would provide a comprehensive list of the companies in the location. Reading blogs, newsletters, articles and reviewing forum discussions are the other important ways of selecting a professional company for your coding needs.

Points to Consider while Choosing a Radiology Coding Company

Before choosing a radiology medical coding company for your medical facility, you would have to evaluate its services. The main points for consideration are:

.Whether its coding procedures strictly adhere to Local Medical Review Policies (LMRP) and Correct Coding Initiatives (CCI)
.Accuracy rates
.Whether the firm offers stringent quality assurance
.Whether its coding procedures are compliant with the HIPAA norms
.Whether it can offer comprehensive solutions in fast/customized turnaround time
.Pricing structure
.Whether it offers free trial options
.Whether it provide 24/7/ 365 technical assistance

The organized radiology medical coding services of a reputable radiology transcription company in Oklahoma can help you to submit error-free medical bills and claims within the specified time frame. This would avoid claim denials and help you obtain maximum reimbursements for your practice.

Radiology Coding Company – Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a leading medical coding company in the US committed to providing fast and efficient medical billing and coding services.

More Medical Coding Articles