Author: Barta, Ann

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2014

Editor’s note: This is the first article in a three article series discussing the Medical and Surgical-related sections of ICD-10-PCS.



THERE ARE NINE Medical and Surgical-related sections of ICD-10-PCS. This article, the first in a series of three articles disc....

Author: Barta, Ann

Source: Journal of AHIMA | Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: June 2014

Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of three articles discussing the Medical and Surgical-related sections of ICD-10-PCS.

IN THIS ARTICLE, the Journal of AHIMA continues its three-part Coding Notes series focusing on the nine Medical and Surgical-related sections of ICD-10-PC....

Author: Kostick, Karen M.; Sanvik, Gina

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2014

Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series of articles discussing the six Ancillary sections of ICD-10-PCS.


This article continues the Journal of AHIMA’s exploration of the different sections of ICD-10-PCS, focusing on the last three Ancillary sections. The side....

Author: Kostick, Karen M.; Sanvik, Gina

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2014

Editor’s note: This is the first installment of a two-part series of articles discussing the six Ancillary sections of ICD-10-PCS.


This article continues the Journal of AHIMA’s exploration of the different sections of ICD-10-PCS, focusing on the six Ancillary sections. The....

Author: Kostick, Karen M.

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: November 2009

National health policy has been increasingly responsive to the healthcare needs of rural residents and providers. Rural America has a large percentage of the nation’s Medicare population, and this percentage continues to grow as residents born in the Baby Boomer generation begin to retir....

Author: Zeisset, Ann M.

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: January 2011

Note: This article has been updated.  The updated version is available here.

Author: Bronnert, June

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: April 2008

The term “long-term care hospital” (LTCH) can leave some in a quandary—do these facilities provide acute care or long-term care? Many people associate them with skilled nursing facilities.

However, LTCHs are not synonymous with skilled nursing facilities; each has....

Author: Peterson, Cindi

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2006

There are more than 4,200 ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) nationwide, performing more than 8 million surgical procedures annually.1 With the increased volume of outpatient procedures, there is no shortage of opportunities for coding professionals.

ASC coding can prove demanding, how....

Author: Buck, Stacie L

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: October 2008

The saying “The only thing that is constant is change” certainly describes the HIM profession and the role of coding professionals.

Over the last three decades the coding professional’s role has evolved dramatically, and it will continue to do so in the decades to c....

Author: Bielby, Judy A

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: October 2011

ICD-10-CM codes provide greater detail than ICD-9-CM codes for reporting neoplasms. In many instances, ICD-10-CM neoplasm codes can provide information on whether a neoplasm occurred in a right-sided or left-sided body part. ICD-10-CM also provides codes for reporting neoplasm sites with great....