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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

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The Importance and Power of Language

The words and narratives we use in healthcare have a significant impact on our patients and our work culture. When you hear the term “health equity” what do you think of? It may sound like just another buzzword, but the concept is one whose time has come. For decades the words we’ve drawn on in […]

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AAPC Knowledge Center

The Importance of Self Audits

Self audits are an important step that medical organizations of all types can take to protect themselves from potential lost revenue (or worse) by identifying coding, billing, and documentation problems before a payer does. All practices should make self-audit a part of their coding compliance program. What Self Audits Can Achieve Self audits allow you to […]

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AAPC Knowledge Center

Revenue Integrity: The Importance of a Solid Program

It’s well worth the investment to review nine areas in your revenue cycle where integrity may be at risk. Revenue integrity is ensuring all charges are captured appropriately, documented sufficiently, and paid correctly. Every organization — whether a private physician practice or a major academic medical center — needs a comprehensive revenue integrity plan. Federal […]

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AAPC Knowledge Center

Report from the Department of Justice Fraud & Abuse Control for 2017 sheds light upon the importance of compliance

In April, the Government released last year’s accomplishments for their work in Healthcare Fraud and Abuse. In 2017 $ 2.6 billion was returned to the Federal Government or paid to private persons. Specifically; $ 1.4 billion was returned to the Medicare Trust Funds and $ 406.7 million was returned to Medicaid programs. Yes, that means that over $ 1 million dollars was paid to Qui Tam relators or put into resources to continue to fight fraud and abuse.

A staggering 967 investigations were opened in 2017 resulting in criminal charges filed for 439 cases involving 720 defendants. This resulted in 639 convictions which is an impressive 88.7% conviction rate. In addition 818 civil actions were filed.

Another interesting statistic was the high number of healthcare exclusions that were published. There were a total of 1,281 healthcare exclusions. They stated that 309 of those exclusions were related to patient abuse or neglect and 972 were a result of licensure revocations.

The post Report from the Department of Justice Fraud & Abuse Control for 2017 sheds light upon the importance of compliance appeared first on The Coding Network.

The Coding Network

Importance of Biopharmaceutical Plants in the Medical World

Biopharmaceutical plants utilize the concept of biotechnology to develop medicines. These medicines are developed from different plant and animal cells and this process is carried out in bioreactors. Use of genetically engineered plants and animals is the latest discovery of biotechnology which has proved its efficiency. However, sometimes it fails and huge investments are wasted. Despite of its effectiveness, many times its use is not permitted by the government because of the involved side effects and religious concerns. This causes heavy loss to manufacturers. Another challenge faced by Biopharmaceutical plants is the mixing of these genetically engineered plants with other food crops which makes these crops infectious.

 

Biopharmaceutical plants are designed and planned according to FDA standards. The medicines must be manufactured in closed system devices and clean rooms to avoid harmful emissions. Their approval requires clearing a series of tests and trials. Before releasing these medicines to market, it should be cross examined to see that it is free from side effects. If it satisfies all the guidelines of “current Good Manufacturing Practices” (cGMP), then only it is released to market for commercialization.

 

There are several industries which manufacture the machines required to carry out several procedures for medicines development. These industries deliver numerous quality services like administration of the construction process, supervision of design, monitor operations, legalization and entire implementation of project in an effective way. Numerous machines involved in manufacturing process includes media production system, storage tanks, fermentors, buffer production systems, bioreactors, stoppering and capering units, ultra filtration units.

 

Machines and equipments involved in production process by Biopharmaceutical plants should be frequently cleaned by using Sterilization in Place (SIP) and Clean in Place (CIP) methods. These methods are necessary to prevent the machines from emissions and harmful particles. Good planning is highly essential before establishing the laboratories. Proper air conditioning, heating and ventilation systems must be present. The health care products developed by these plants include several antibiotics, proteins, vaccines and nucleic acids which can save millions of lives.

 

 

For more information on Pharmaceutical engineering and the benefits of Pharmaceutical manufacturing and Biopharmaceutical plants please visit the mentioned website

Related Medical Coding Articles

Medical importance of specific tapeworms and their threats to man

Such tape worms in question are: the dwarf tapeworm, the dog tapeworm and Echinococcus multilocularis. Such names sound so scary huh? What are their effects?

 

Hymenolepis nana (dwarf tapeworm)

Hymenolepis nana is found worldwide, commonly in the tropics. Multilocular Hydratid disease occurs primarily in hunters and is endemic in northern Europe, siberia, and the western provinces of Canada. Unilocular Hydratid Cyst Disease is found primarily in shepherds living in the Mediterranean region, the Middle East and Australia.

 

It is only 2-3cm in length. Scolex has round form and contains suckers and hooks. Its neck is very long and thick. Strobila has 200 proglottides. the uterus has an excretory ostium. Eggs are released from it into the feces. Transmission is through the fecal-oral (by the ingestion of eggs from contaminated food or water) route.

 

H.nana is different from other tapeworms, because its eggs are directly infectious for humans; i.e ingested eggs can develop into adult worms without an intermediate host. Within the duodenum, the eggs hatch and differentiate into cysticercoid larvae and then into adult worms. Gravid proglottids detach, disintegrate, and release fetilized eggs. The eggs either pass in the stool or can reinfect the small intestine (autoinfection). In contrast to infection by other tapeworms, where only one adult worm is present, many H.nana worms (sometimes hundreds) are found.

 

It is asymptomatic, but diarrhea and abdominal cramps may be present. Diagnosis can be proven by observing eggs in stool. The characteristic feature of H.nana eggs is the 8-10 polar filaments lying between the membrane of the 6-hooked larva and the outer shell. There are so many suggestions to the treatment therapy of Hymenolepsis nana. One suggestions recommends Acranil drug in tablets taken orally (depending on doctor’s prescription) while others recommend three drugs which are: Praziquantel, niclosamide and paromomycin. Nitrazoxamide has been recently discovered as another treatment option. Prevention consists of good personal hygiene and avoidance of fecal contamination of food and water.

 

Echinococcus granulosus (dog tapeworm)

It is found primarily in shepherds living in the Mediterranean region, the Middle East, Australia and USA (western states). The worm is up to 3-5mm. Scolex has suckers and hooks. Its neck is short, strobila has 3-5 proglottids. Posterior segment (mature) is the largest and contains uterus with the haustrums, genital pore situated in the back of the proglottid. Transmission is through the fecal oral route by the ingestion of eggs from contaminated food or water.

 

Dogs are the most important definitive hosts. The intermediate hosts are usually sheep. Humans are almost always dead-end intermediate hosts. Worms in the dog’s intestine liberate thousands of eggs, which are ingested by sheep (or humans). The oncosphere embryos emerge in the small intestine and migrate primarily to the liver but also to the lungs, bones, and brain. The embryos develop into large fluid-filled hydatid cysts, the inner germinal layer of which generates many protoscoleces within “brood capsules”. The outer layer of the cyst is thick, fibrous tissue produce by the host. The life cycle is completed when the entrails (for example liver containing hydatid cysts) of slaughtered sheep are eaten by dogs.

 

Many individuals with hydatic cysts are asymptomatic, but liver may cause hepatic dysfunction. Cysts in the lungs can erode into a bronchus, causing bloody sputum, and cerebral cysts can cause headache and focal neurologic stings. If the cysts ruptures spontaneously or during trauma or surgical removal, life-threatening anaphylaxis can occur (the cyst fluid contains parasite antigens, which can sensitize the host). Diagnosis may be done by X-ray, observation of eosinophilia and serologic tests. Prevention of human disease involves not feeding the entrails of slaughtered sheep to dogs.

 

Echinococcus multilocularis

It is found in northern Europe, siberia, Canada (western provinces), the USA (North and South Dakota, Minnesota, and Alaska). Many of the features of this organism are the same as those of E.granulosus, but the definitive hosts are mainly foxes and the intermediate hosts are various rodents. Humans are infected by accidental ingestion of food contaminated with fox feces. The disease occurs primarily in hunters and trappers. Within the human liver, the larvae form multiloculated cysts with few protoscoleces. No outer fibrous capsule forms, so the cysts continue to proliferate, producing a honeycomb effect of hundreds of small vesicles (without fluid). The clinical picture usually involves jaundice and weight loss. The prognosis is poor and hence surgical removal may be feasible.

 

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The medical importance of Insects to Human Health

Insects are by far the largest group of organisms (Class Insecta) on earth. Whether measured in terms of numbers of species or numbers of individuals. Insects live in every conceivable habitat on land and fresh water, and a few have even invaded the sea. More than 70% of all named animal species are insects, and the actual proportion is doubtless much higher, because millions of additional forms await detection, classification and naming.

 

Most insects are relatively small, ranging in size from 0.1mm to head, thorax, and abdomen; three pairs of legs, all attached to the thorax; and one pair of antennae. In addition, they may have one or two pairs of wings. Most insects have compound eyes, and many have ocelli as well. The mouth parts of insects are elaborate. They usually consist of the jaws or mandibles, which are tough and unsegmented; a secondary pair of mouth parts, the maxillae, which are segmented; and the lower lip, or labium, which probably evolved from the fusion of another pair of maxilla-like structures. The upper lip, called the labrium, is of less certain origin. The hypopharynx is short, tongue-like organ (in chewing insects) that lies between the maxillae and above the labium, the salivary glands usually open on or near hypopharynx. Within this basic structural framework. the mouth parts vary widely among groups of insects, mainly in relation to their feeding habits.

 

Many orders of insects- such as Coleoptera, the beetles; Hymenoptera, grasshoppers, crickets, and their relatives- have chewing, or mandibulae mouth parts. In other orders, the mouth parts may be elongated or style-like. For example, in some flies (order Diptera) such as mosquitoes, black flies, and horse flies. there are six piercing, fused styles: the labrium, the mandibles, the maxillae, and the hypopharynx; the labium sheaths the stylets. In more advanced flies, the labium may be the principal piercing organ or may be expanded into large soft lobes through which liquid food is absorbed. The insect thorax consists of three segments (tagmata), each of which has a pair of legs. Occasionally, one or more of these pairs of legs is absent. Legs are completely absent in the larvae of certain groups- for example, in most members of the order Hymenoptera, the bees, wasps and ants- and among the flies, order Diptera. If two pairs of wings are present, they are attached to the middle and posterior segments of the thorax; if only one pair of wings is present, it is usually attached to the middle segment. The thorax is almost entirely filled with muscles that operate the legs and wings. The wings of insects arise as sack-like outgrowth of the body wall; in adult insects, they are solid, except for the veins. The internal features of insects resemble those of the other arthropods. Insects posses sophisticated means of sensing their environment, including sensory hairs to detect chemical signals called pheromones. Most young insects hatch from fertilized eggs laid outside their mother’s body. The zygote develops within the egg into young insect, which escapes by chewing its way out or by bursting the shell. During the course of their development into adults, young insects undergo ecdysis a number of times before they become adults and stop molting permanently. Most insects molt 4 to 8 times during the course of their development. The stages between the molts are defined as instars.

 

Metamorphosis

 

There are two principal kinds of metamorphosis in insects: simple and complete. In simple metamorphosis, the wings develop internally during the juvenile stages and appear externally only during the resting stages that immediately preceeds the final molt. During this stage, the insect is called a pupa or chrysais, depending on the group to which it belongs. A pupa does not normally move around much, although the pupae of mosquitoes do move around freely. A very large amount of internal reorganization of the insect’s body takes place while it is a pupa or chrysalis. In the insects with simple metamorphosis, the immature stages are often called nymphs. They are usually quite similar to the Adults, differing mainly in their smaller size, less well-developed wings, and sometimes in their color. More than 90% of the insects, including the members of all of the largest and most successful orders, display complete metamorphosis, in which the juvenile stages and adults often live in distinct habitats, have different habits, and are usually extremely different in form. In these insects, development is indirect. Larvae in insects are immature stages, often worm-like, which differ greatly in appearance from the adults of the same species. Larvae do not have compound eyes. They may be legless or have legs as well as sometimes having leg like appendages on the abdomen. Pupae do not feed and are usually relatively inactive. As pupae, insects are extremely vulnerable to predators and parasites, they are often covered by a cocoon or some other protective structure. Groups of insects with complete metamorphosis include the moths, and butterflies; beetles; bees, wasp, and ants; flies and fleas.

 

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Medical Loupes: Tools Of Great Importance

Dental loupes, as they are commonly known as, are easily available on line and are tagged at low prices.
Medical loupes are important medical tools which are used on a daily basis by medical professionals. This is because they need a clear and a magnified vision while performing intricate surgeries. While performing surgeries, their major concern is accuracy and precision. Both the needs are fulfilled by eye loupes as they make the task of surgeons easier. These loupes are lightweight and therefore surgeons find it comfortable to wear them even for a longer period of time. Thus, they are able to concentrate on the diagnosis and the treatment with great convenience.

They are also extensively used in the dentistry field and give the dentists a magnifying view of the working area. With help of these tools, the dentists are able to see a detailed view of the entities in the patient’s mouth and therefore are able to conduct examination and perform surgeries with a great deal of accuracy. The importance of the surgical loupes cannot be denied at any cost and they are being heavily relied upon by dentists on a daily basis. There are various crucial examinations that dentists perform such as drilling a cavity. Therefore, the dentist’s vision needs to be clear and the working area needs to be magnified to the required extent. This calls for the urgent need for surgical loupes which help dentists in accurate diagnosis for their patients.

These Loupe provide a number of advantages to surgeons and dentists. For dentists, they enable them to have a better visualization of the oral cavity by magnifying the working area. They help to maintain an improved ergonomic posture and therefore they offer great comfort to the wearer. There are reduced chances of eye, neck and back fatigue and surgeons can work without body strain. They provide an enhanced view of the instruments thus providing great accuracy in performing crucial tasks such as diagnosis and surgeries. This ultimately increases the confidence of the patient as well, and he or she co-operates with the surgeon, thus resulting in proper and accurate diagnosis.

It is important to select the right eye loupes as different loupes have different magnification power. Dentists and surgeons also need to decide the working distance for their loupes, which can be described as the area between the loupes and the working area. Dental loupes of high quality can be easily bought on line. There are reputed dealers who provide surgical loupes and other products such as clip on face shields on a low price.

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Importance Of Medical Powerpoint Presentations

Plain text or oral dissemination of information is not enough anymore. PowerPoint presentations are used extensively for making a point in a powerful way. When PPTs are being used in all industries, the healthcare industry has not remained untouched.

Medical PowerPoint presentations are being used for packaging information on a range of projects, such as:
Medical protocols
Safety reports
Case study and clinical study reports
Medical investigative reports
Summary of medical thesis and healthcare journals
FDA documents and abstracts

PowerPoint presentations, apart from being a very successful mode of communication, also serve the purpose of documentation. They have a long shelf life and can be stored for use at a later date. Also, PPTs can be easily transferred from one location to another either by email or through pen drives and VCDs.

Benefits of Outsourcing Medical PowerPoint Presentations
If you choose to outsource medical PowerPoint presentations you stand to benefit in multiple ways. Outsourcing is a great way of cutting costs. It is much more economical to outsource processes and functions than working on them in-house. Apart from being economical, it also helps save time. A specialized firm will take less time to get the job done and will aid you in reducing your turnaround time by a great margin.

It is important to choose a specialist when outsourcing PowerPoint presentations because the information that is collected and disseminated needs to be absolutely accurate, clear, crisp and precise. Also, an overload of text should be avoided in presentations.

When you choose a third party provider, you must make certain that the provider has ample experience and expertise in creating medical PowerPoint presentations. A professional third party provider will benefit you in various ways:
He will have access to high quality healthcare knowledge and experience in making PowerPoint presentations on medical topics.
An expert will create well structured presentations that can successfully convey your ideas to your audience.
Adherence to quality protocols and processes.
Your information, ideas and data will be kept confidential.

Global-Ability (www.global-ability.com) is exactly such a provider with a number of services to offer, including PowerPoint presentations and due diligence report on medical topics. Global-Abilitys highly qualified and experienced professionals employ state-of-the-art tools and processes for every project they handle.
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Yonsal & Sanoy an Importance of Medical PowerPoint Presentations which are being increasingly used to present a point in a fashion in medical industry. To know more about PPTs on medical topics.

Medical importance of blood sucking flies

The blood sucking flies are important as intermediate hosts in the transfer of leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis, Onchocerciasis and loa loa. What really do we need to know?

 

There are different classes in this category which are: Phlebotonus, Smulium, Chrysops and the Glossina flies.

 

Phleotonus (sandfly, moth fly and Owl midge)

There general morphology is as follows: Thorax is hump-backed; small sized (3mm), body and wings are quite hairy, their wings are devoid of scales, when wings are at rest, they are held in ‘v’ at 60 degrees angle, wings are veined in parallel lines, mouth parts are structured for piercing and biting and finally they are yellow-buff colored.

 

habits and distribution

Active nocturnal feeders, females alone are bloodsuckers cosmopolitan in tropical and subtropical climates. Breeding places hard to find; under stones, in masonry cracks, poultry houses, hollow trees, breeding places are generally non aquatic.

 

Symptoms of bite

Rose-colored papule at site of bite, with 10-20mm zone of erythema stinging pain and itching Nausea, fever, and malaise in sensitive individuals.

 

Parasite and disease transmitted

Leishmania donovani (kala-azar), Leishmania tropica (oriental sore), L.braziliensis (American leishmaniasis), Phlebotomus fever (pappataci fever), Bartonella bacilliformis (Oroya fever, carrison’s disease).

 

simulium (Black fly, Buffalo gnat)

There general morphology is as follows: Small size (2-3mm); body is black, body is sturdy, legs are short, conspicuous compound eyes, short proboscis with blade-like cutting organs, wings are broad and usually clear, body appears longitudinally striped due to fine silver.

 

Habits and distribution

Cosmopolitan in distribution, breeds along shaded watercourses or woodland streams. Females bite in the day time.

 

Symptoms of bite

Bite is initially painless; wound bleeds profusely; pain, itching, and swelling develops later.

 

Parasite and disease transmitted

Onchocerca volvulus (onchocerciasis)

 

Chrysops (Deer fly Tabanid Mangrove fly

There general morphology is as follows: Highly colored yellow banded abdomen with dark stripes; mouth parts fitted for stabbing and cutting; wings clear with dark band along anterior margins; wings held spread away and horizontal to body.

 

Habits and distribution

Cosmopolitan, but more common in America. Female bite in early morning or late afternoon. Breeds in woodlands, marshy ponds or roadside ditches.

 

Symptoms of bite

Several thrusts of cutting mouth parts leave an unsightly puncture wound pain and swelling develop within a few hours. Loa loa pasteurella tularensis (tularemia).

 

Glossina (Tse tse fly)

Its morphology is as follows: Slightly larger than housefly, its brownish in color, resting wings overcrossed like scissor blades, slender proboscis held horizontal to ground.

 

Habits and distribution

Found in equatorial africa, G.Palpalis: hot dump areas along borders of rivers, lakes, and streams in West Africa Males and females bite in the day. Bite have minor significance. The parasite responsible is the Trypanosoma rhodesiense, Trypanosoma gambiense (African sleeping sickness).

 

I am Funom Theophilus Makama. I advertise through writing. As a platinum expert Author, I write lots of articles and hence promote interested websites, companies, groups, organizations, and communities through publishing and distributing my articles. For more information on this interesting venture, click on the link below:

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I am an expert Author and writer. I write, publish, re-publish and distribute very good articles around the internet. With professional techniques, such as SEO, social bookmarking, social netowrking, Google ads and more, I am able to generate traffic thereby aiding me to advertise products, companies, websites, groups, communities etc. Hence I advertise through writing and distribution of articles