This article appeared in the June issue of the Radiology Coding & Compliance Expert.

On June 5-6 in Orlando, CSI will hold the first ICD-10-CM coding seminar specifically dedicated to radiology.  The SWAT Seminar (Specialty-Specific Workshops and Training) is designed to give you the tactical advantage your organization needs to protect its revenue in 2014 and beyond.

This article appeared in the May issue of the Radiology Coding & Compliance Expert.

During the past several months we have brought you a series of articles about ICD-10-CM, including coding guidelines, coverage issues, and other ICD-10 news. This month we will change the focus a bit and review where your organization should be in preparation for the transition.  You now have only 18 months left until ICD-10 implementation, which will occur on October 1, 2014.  And as we told you last month, CMS has stated that they are committed to that date.  Now is the time to go into overdrive for ICD-10 preparation and training!

This article appeared in the April issue of the Radiology Coding & Compliance Expert.

Come October 2014, the familiar ICD-9-CM codes that you’ve used for mammograms for so long, like V76.12, will be going away. However, the good news is that the diagnosis coding guidelines for mammograms are not changing significantly, so it should be easy for you to get the hang of the new codes. In this article we’ll give you a quick introduction.

This article appeared in the March issue of the Radiology Coding & Compliance Expert.

In the January issue (“There’s Lots Not to Like in New CCI Manual”) we told you that CMS has added a third type of edit to its Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) edit collection. In addition to the Procedure-to-Procedure edits (code pairs) and Medically Unlikely Edits (frequency limits), CCI now contains Add-On Code edits that show which base codes an add-on code can be reported with. In transmittal 2636, released on January 16, CMS provided more detail about these edits, including some recommendations from the American College of Radiology (ACR) and Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR). This article gives you a summary of the new information, but you can find the entire Transmittal on the CMS website at: http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Guidance/ Transmittals/2013-Transmittals-Items/R2636CP.html

This article appeared in the February issue of the Radiology Coding & Compliance Expert.

Chances are, you have at one time or another used a marker to black out the patient’s name and other identifying information on a radiology report before sharing it with a consultant or vendor. But you may not have been sure what specific items of information you should remove.
In November the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the Department of Health and Human Services released guidance about methods for de-identifying protected health information (PHI) in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule.  In this article we’ll tell you what you need to know about the new guidance.

This article appeared in the January issue of the Radiology Coding & Compliance Expert.

Many imaging studies are ordered because the patient is experiencing pain. Once ICD-10 is implemented on October 1 of next year, radiology coders will need to be ready to assign the appropriate codes for these studies. In this article we’ll give you a run-down of how pain is classified in ICD-10, as well as the rules for sequencing the pain codes.

This article appeared in the December issue of the Radiology Coding & Compliance Expert.

CMS has released the Final Rule for the 2013 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Payment System. In this article we’ll discuss the aspects of the Rule that are most important for radiology. The Final Rule was published in the November 15 Federal Register, and public comments on codes with interim APC assignments (status NI) are due in 60 days from the date of publication. You can download a copy of the Rule on the website of the U. S. Government Printing Office at:

This article appeared in the November issue of the Radiology Coding & Compliance Expert.

On September 28 CMS published new rules for reporting the place of service (POS) code and provider address on claims for professional and technical component services.  The rules do not go into effect until April 1 of next year, but in the meantime they are creating a great deal of confusion and anxiety in the radiology community.

This article appeared in the October issue of the Radiology Coding & Compliance Expert.

In a sobering reminder that anti-fraud laws do have teeth, a Houston radiologist has agreed to pay $650,000 in settlement of a quit tam (whistleblower) lawsuit. In this article we’ll explain the basis for the suit and the four separate anti-fraud laws that the physician’s conduct is alleged to have violated.

This article appeared in the September issue of the Radiology Coding & Compliance Expert.

Soft tissue is the tissue that connects, supports, and surrounds other body structures. It includes fibrous connective tissue, fat, muscle, tendons, ligaments, fascia, and skin. Because ultrasound is a low-cost and low-risk modality, it is often used as the initial diagnostic study for soft tissue abnormalities,  particularly soft tissue masses. These can represent a  alignant tumor such as a sarcoma or a benign tumor such as a lipoma. However, they can also represent a non-neoplastic condition such as an abscess or cellulitis.

The code selection for soft tissue ultrasound depends on the location of the abnormality. In this article we’ll give you some tips for selecting the correct code