Welcome to Coffee with the Coder^®, our conversation with Paula Digby and her team to address issues, observations and questions for Health Information Management professionals, physicians, auditors, payors and students. Listen in for twenty minutes or so every other Monday and send in your favorite questions or comments for Coffee with the Coder^® To receive text notifications send an email to help@AQ-IQ.com with your request. We will text you in the hour prior to the start of the next episode, which will be Monday, November 7th.

In the “Insider’s” portion before Episode 153 begins, Ms Digby discusses four types of breast cancer and how to report the various surgical treatments for these diagnoses. As the episode begins, the first item, from our friend Anonymous” is there a code to report a post op lumbar epidural hematoma which developed post laminectomy? Next Paula discussed routine reporting of depression screenings – make certain you achieve Medical Necessity if you plan to bill. Finally, another Anonymous wonders whether we should quantify over and under billing revealed by a compliance audit.

Coffee with the Coder^(R) loves your questions.  To watch episode 153, click this delightful mugshot of our friend, Shawna. (Just so you know, the captions are not yet validated.)

Connect for Episode 154 on November 7th, beginning at 10:10 am Eastern (7:10 am Pacific). “Insiders” begins at 10 am Eastern. You’ll find us on Free Conference Call HD,  Linked In, YouTube, and on Facebook. #coffeewiththecoder