Take the challenge. M10.072—Acute gout has an Excludes 1 note of chronic gout (M1A.-). This means that acute gout and chronic gout cannot be coded for the same encounter, as the codes are mutually exclusive. M45.6—The patient is diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis of the lumbar region. M81.8—Other osteoporosis without current pathological fracture. M79.622—The patient has…
Rheumatology Coding Corner Question: Coding for Acute Flare of Idiopathic Gout
It has been two months since the implementation of ICD-10, so everyone has gotten a feel for the new code set. Let’s see how well you are doing in your diagnosis coding for rheumatology-specific conditions. A 55-year-old female patient presents for a follow-up visit of idiopathic chronic gout of multiple joints without tophi. She complains…
Looking Back on Rheumatology in 2015, Leaping Forward to the Year Ahead
My dear friends, we come to praise Caesar. As we march toward 2016, we ought to acknowledge the great Roman emperor’s role in creating a proper calendar. At the start of Caesar’s reign, the calendar year lasted 355 days, 10¼ days fewer than the time it took the earth to fully orbit the sun.1 Although…
How to Keep Patient Appointments Running on Time
Nobody likes waiting to see their physician. In fact, a whopping 97% of patients are frustrated by wait times at the doctor’s office, a study has reported.1 That’s a lot of unhappy patients. Fortunately, a practice can do many things to help keep patient appointments on time—beginning with proper scheduling techniques and monitoring patients’ progress…
Patient-Centered Care Model for RA Flares Could Improve Self-Management of Symptoms
A recent trend to incorporate patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in clinical research, and ultimately clinical practice, is a response to the need to better measure and treat what patients truly care about, and adapt to the changing healthcare environment, which increasingly includes patient satisfaction as a key metric for overall quality of care, a metric tied…
Cyber Risks: A New Area of Liability for Medical Practices
Computerization of healthcare in general, and medical records in particular, has opened additional areas of liability for medical practices that many may not be addressing. A data breach of patient records can have major financial and business impacts on the practice when they occur. Data Intrusions Increasing The number of data intrusions hit a record…
Understanding the Z Codes in ICD-10
Two months into the transition, the ICD-10 code set is still not exactly the most enticing reading material. But there is still so much to learn and apply, that it is necessary for physicians, coders and billers to stay abreast of the coding and billing guidelines. Although all of the guidelines and conventions may be…
Tips for Educating Patients in the Age of Biologics
Patient education has always been at the core of the nursing profession. Nurses pride themselves on being great teachers and patient advocates. When self-injectable biologics were first introduced to the market, one of the main goals was to make patients independent and put them in the driver’s seat of their own care. Yet without a…
Educating Medical Students on Rheumatology Early May Help Recruitment
As usual, your items in The Rheumatologist remain timely. In the case of attracting medical students into rheumatology, your piece is also timeless. For many years now, I have recommended to various officers of the ACR that we obtain a list of students and their home addresses when they are admitted to medical school. At…
Why Rheumatology May Be an Attractive Specialty for Medical Students
I want to thank you for writing the article, “Attracting More Medical Students to Rheumatology” for The Rheumatologist (online, October 2015). I am a senior at Georgetown University now, and I have recently applied to medical school. I have considered pursuing a career in rheumatology, and your article has inspired me to stay on that…
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