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

Medical Malpractice Reform is Even Harder Than it Sounds

The notion of medical malpractice reform is fraught with difficulty. At the heart of it is the reaction to individuals and their families to injury or death resulting from human error on the part of the medical system. As a people, the two things we have zero tolerance for are errors in our financial processes and our medical processes. The difference is that when it comes to finance, remuneration is easily accepted at the face value of the error leaving it to the judicial system to figure out any punishment that is necessary. With medical malpractice, however, there is the concept of trying to make whole the injured party, which is subjective with an unknowable future cost, plus the inherent empathy we all feel as human beings for medical damage.

The Public Handicapping

As an example, if a person loses their sight after undergoing a procedure that was undertaken to make the individual well but it goes poorly due to a mistake the physician makes, even though we know the individual can live out their life, there is such an abhorrence to the very concept that a jury of peers is predisposed to not only making the victim whole, but in some way seriously punishing the “perpetrator;” partly for the victim and partly for ourselves. Thus medical malpractice reform is handicapped by a public and congress attempting to preserve the ability to punish the perpetrators of such an unfathomable act.

Universal Health Care

The truth is that we need universal health care to solve this dilemma. If someone is blinded by poor medical treatment, as abhorrent the thought is, their medical treatment would be guaranteed for life, and the calculation of the other costs for their life becomes more finite. Transportation, accommodations such as animal assistance, home cleaning, shopping, and all the things one needs to survive comfortably become calculable–without rampant emotion. It comes down to how we balance the costs of such egregious injury from medical malpractice with the need to keep the costs of medicine under control. Preventable injuries, as deplorable as they are, should not be a windfall profit to the victim, yet the responsibility for the damage must be atoned for by the perpetrator in accordance with our laws against violence against others. As with all forms of justice, the goal is to “make whole” the victim as much as can be accomplished, while holding true to the concept of justice.

To learn much more about finding a good dental malpractice lawyer, visit malpractice-history.com where you’ll find this and much more, including malpractice statistics and advice.

Code for the Day: There’s Even a Code for One of My New Year’s Resolutions! (Y93.E9)

How do people start New Year’s resolutions on January 1?  Am I the only person in the world who bakes, entertains, gift wraps, and parties myself into oblivion until the point where I don’t want to do a darn thing come New Year’s Day?  Here we are on January 14 and I am finally getting things organized enough to focus on how to better myself in 2013. 

Oh sure, I had lofty goals.  Last year, we took an awesome New Year’s day hike at Red Rocks Park near Denver.  And we were going to do it again.  But this year 2013 hit us in a sleep deprived state so we decided to forgo the hike and head to a late breakfast instead.  We did end up at Ikea, though, so I suppose a few hours there could technically be classified as a hike.

In general, I hate New Year’s resolutions.  I think they are incredibly cliche and what’s even more cliche is the fact that they never last.  I think the number 1 New Year’s resolution should be to make your New Year’s resolution last longer than a few weeks – maybe even the whole year. 

I try to start out every year with a general plan to get organized and unload myself of unnecessary clutter. I am, after all a super organized coder and that carries over into my home and daily life. So I’ve spent the last couple of weeks organizing my kitchen, planning menus, organizing closets, cutting back on what I eat (duh, who doesn’t have that resolution!), and decluttering my physical space.  And I was so delighted to find that there is, in fact, a code for that:

  • Y93.E9, Activity, other interior property and clothing maintenance

If only there was a companion code specific to shoe shopping – then I could code the before and the after!

What’s in Store for 2013?

Happy New Year to all of you!  I am not sure what is in store for my blog in 2013, but I continue to look around for inspiration. For now I am still inspired by the Code for the Day, even though it doesn’t seem to come every day. Look for an FAQs page coming some time in the next couple of months for people interested in a coding career.  And best wishes for keeping your New Year’s resolution past first quarter!
Coder Coach

Medical Necessity Is a Necessity, Even for Low Level Visits

Don’t forget the role of medical necessity when reporting a low-level evaluation and management (E/M) service, such as 99211 Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of an established patient…usually, the presenting problem(s) are minimal. For example, a patient has an established diagnosis of hypertension. The provider documents that the patient should […]
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