Tag: Critical Connections 2017
![]()
Coding and Documentation Is Crucial in Supporting Critical Care Services
Documentation should paint a picture of the patient’s condition. Medical necessity drives every patient encounter. In fact, the Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) Program states, “Medical necessity of a service is the overarching criterion for payment in addition to the individual requirements of a CPT code.”1 Diagnosis coding is very important for any specialty but critically important when managing a critical care patient. Coding and documentation should tell the payer what and why— what services are performed and the reason for providing the service.
Critical Connections 2017
![]()
Implementation Challenges of Clinical Practice Guidelines
Last year, a task force of the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) completed and published the new guidelines for intensive care unit (ICU) admission, discharge and triage.1 This far-reaching document was developed to close a significant gap present for almost two decades since the first SCCM guidelines publication in 1999; it provides evidence-based recommendations in these and multiple related clinical practice subjects. Despite the difficulties of developing such a document, its implementation and adoption will carry much greater challenges.
Critical Connections 2017
![]()
Issues for Admixtures in an Era of Drug Shortages
In an era fraught with drug shortages, hospitals are faced with limited options for some vital admixtures. When manufacturers have limited supplies or products are no longer available, hospital pharmacies may be faced with admixing these agents or outsourcing to compounding facilities. Preparation of admixtures is regulated in terms of sterility and stability for optimal patient safety. Providing appropriate drug therapy for patients in the intensive care unit can become problematic when medication supplies run short. Medication compounding may be offered as a method of drug shortage management.
Critical Connections 2017, Drug Shortage
![]()
Medicare’s Physician Payment System Changes: Impact on Critical Care
Read about evolving reimbursement changes mandated by Medicare and how this impacts critical care. A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine describes the evolving reimbursement changes mandated by Medicare as a “coming battle” between primary care physicians and specialists.1 There has been very little to date in the critical care literature about these changes or how they might affect intensivists. In this article, we provide an overview of the legislative changes to Medicare, how they may affect physician reimbursement, and specifically how they might affect intensivists. It will be up to the critical care community to determine appropriate responses to this changing environment.
Critical Connections 2017