A Lisa Selman-Holman blog
CMS recently stated that only wounds and lesions of the integumentary system are recorded in OASIS, not wound or lesions in mucosal membranes.
Those pressure ulcers are reported in the comprehensive assessment and documentation.
Want to see the clarification? Go to the April 2012 link.
CMS confirms that gastroenteritis deaths have doubled in the past 10 years or so. Our friends, C. difficile and norovirus, are the leading causes.
Over the eight-year study period (1999-2007), CDC found that gastroenteritis-associated deaths from all causes increased from almost 7,000 to more than 17,000 per year. Adults over 65 years old accounted for 83 percent of deaths. Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) and norovirus were the most common infectious causes of gastroenteritis-associated deaths.
Much of the recent increase in the incidence and mortality of C. difficile is attributed to the emergence and spread of a hypervirulent, resistant strain of C. difficile. This bug contributed to about two-thirds of the deaths.
Norovirus was associated with about 800 deaths annually, though there were 50 percent more deaths in years when epidemics were caused by new strains of the virus. Norovirus is highly contagious.
CMS to focus on 2 new areas for reviews
At the NAHC conference in Washington, DC, recently, Latesha Walker of CMS said that CMS will begin medical reviews in two new areas:
Just because there are two new additions doesn’t mean that the old reviews shouldn’t be paid attention to anymore!
A few other things discussed at the meeting:
Thanks, again, to HCLA for its update in its News Alert!
Just a reminder of a few codes that became invalid Oct. 1. Don’t code!
A few we’ve seen:
Despite what you may have read, ICD-10-CM is NOT delayed until October 1, 2014!!
CMS proposed to move the implementation date to October 1, 2014. The healthcare industry has the opportunity to comment on the proposal and THEN CMS can publish a final rule.
CMS estimates that a delay in implementation will cost health care entities, including state Medicaid systems, $1 billion to $6.5 billion.
There are certain to be numerous comments both for the delay and for implementation as was required in the 2009 final rule. Only time will tell.
HHS is proposing a rule to delay ICD-10 implementation until Oct. 1, 2014.
The new date is part of a proposed rule that would adopt a standard for a unique health plan identifier (HPID), adopt a data element that would serve as an “other entity” identifier (OEID), and add a National Provider Identifier (NPI) requirement.
Here is the press release.
The proposed rule is CMS-0040-P and you can see it at the Federal Registrar website.
CMS has posted its first OASIS C training module, which addresses medication items.
The agency says more sessions should come online soon, including: care planning and interventions; neuro/emotional/behavioral status items; and integumentary/pressure ulcer items.
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We hear a lot about remote health work and monitoring, and it seems to work really well at times. This caught my eye because it’s an experiment in monitoring COPD, which can be so tricky, as we all know!
The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and eResearchTechnology, Inc. (ERT) want to work together to identify COPD symptoms early on, specifically in a remote health setting, to provide better care outside a physician’s office. They also want to see if technology can detect potential exacerbation.
The randomized study will test home-based spirometry, activity monitoring, adherence scoring, and self-reported symptom monitoring. A web-based data tracking site will analyze patient data to look for trends in symptoms and concerns.
The most popular remote monitoring right now is for cardiac patients and insurers (some!) have begun to pay for the monitoring.
Comment period on potential ICD-10 delay is now open
You can read the proposed rule to delay ICD-10 until Oct. 1, 2014.
CMS has released a fact sheet outlining the proposed rule.
The comment period closes at 5pm ET on May 17.
To submit comments:
The 30-day comment period for this rule is an important way to provide feedback to HHS about the proposed ICD-10 compliance date change. You can submit comments in the following ways:
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Department of Health and Human Services
Attention: CMS–0040–P
P.O. Box 8013
Baltimore, MD 21244–8013
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