ICD-10: What We Need to Read Your Exams

MEDICAL CODES: Please do not provide a medical code as a reason for examination. Medical codes may not be specific to one area or condition, are not adequate for billing and coding under either ICD-9 or ICD-10, and do not provide the radiologist with complete information on the patient.

USING DIAGNOSIS: In general, it is best to list patient symptoms/complaints as the medical reason for exam, as opposed to the diagnosis. For example, if the diagnosis is “spinal stenosis” or “sciatica,” however there is no comparison exam, or the radiologist disagrees and finds no stenosis in his evaluation, it can be troublesome. Instead, list the patient symptoms that led to this diagnosis.

INDICATIONS FOR EXAMINATION THAT WILL BE REJECTED BY CODING STAFF:

• “Preop”: there is no “code” for preop, the order must include the upcoming surgery type or signs/symptoms leading to the order of the exam
• “History and Physical”: there must be a valid reason for ordering the specific radiological study
• “Suspect …..” “Possible….” “Rule Out…”: there is no code for a suspected condition, only for specific patient signs/symptoms that validate the ordered exam

ALWAYS REMEMBER: With ICD-10, and for our radiologists, you cannot be too specific. ICD-10 coding allows for thousands of symptoms, causes for injury/illness, and scenarios. Also, all provided information allows the radiologist to form a clearer picture of the patient, which will result in a more complete report.

WHERE TO PLACE EXTRA PATIENT INFORMATION IN A PRS ONLINE ORDER: Place extra patient information in the “Order Notes” section for the radiologist to view. Information typed into the Physician Reason section will appear on the header of the report and in the body of the report. For medical coding and billing purposes, the more information provided, the better. However, if there is patient information you would like the radiologist to see, but do not want to appear in the actual report, you would place this information in the Order Notes section. Also, please continue to use the Order Notes section for your image count, comparison listings, STAT information, and contrast information (as always).

SCHEDULING

Dr. Lee will be the in-house Radiologist for the week of February 27th.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Logan County Hospital in Oakley, KS is accepting applications for an ARRT Registered Radiologic Technologist. Position is *PRN* with a rotating on-call schedule. CT experience is preferred, but not necessary. Please contact Danielle Flinn at 785-672-8140 or dflinn@lchoakley.com for more information.

Nuclear Medicine Technologist 
Citizens Medical Center, Inc. in Colby, KS is accepting applications for a full-time Nuclear Medicine Technologist. Position is 4 10-hour shifts (Mon - Thurs 6:30am - 5pm), with a rotating on-call schedule, and will be cross-trained for CT. Please contact Anthony Aukes at 785-460-1250 or aaukes@cmciks.com for more information.