Play Time’s Over

 By Kathleen Casbarro

Clinicians need to keep coming coding changes in mind

How can Ben get on track for the ICD-10 changeover when it comes to clinical documentation?

“Ben!” called Carmen, “You’re going to be late for work!”

Ben swung Jonathan down to the floor and settled him with crayons and paper. The time he spent with his son in the mornings helped him start his day in a great mood, but it was easy to lose track of time.

“Thanks!” he said to his wife, taking the strong, hot coffee she offered. “You don’t have to go in to the restaurant at all today?”

“I have an actual day off,” she beamed. “It’s kids’ clinic at your place today, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is, and I think it’s my favorite day of the month.” Ben’s chiropractic office provided monthly well kid checkups for patients, and it worked out best to bunch all those appointments together. “Unless we have an emergency, it’s all happy, healthy kids.”

“You can just write ‘Great kid!’ on each chart and skip the paperwork,” Carmen said with a smile.

Ben finished his coffee quickly and headed to the clinic, with Carmen’s words ringing in his ears. He had been focusing on getting billing and scheduling systems in place in preparation for the ICD-10 changeover in October, but he knew he was also going to have to make changes in his clinical documentation.

What changes, though? Once again, Ben thought, he was facing a possible problem without knowing just what he was up against. He knew he did a good job with clinical documentation, but he also knew that the documentation would be key to success with ICD-10. There would be different codes for the two sides of the body, for various levels of severity of each condition, and more — and payment decisions would be riding on making the right choices.

Ben added “clinical documentation” to his list of issues to think about. The list never seemed to get any shorter, but he felt fairly sure that he had no choice with this issue.

How can Ben get on track for the ICD-10 changeover when it comes to clinical documentation?

See all of our information on ICD-10 on our ICD-10 page.