Q: If a patient is seen for a pressure ulcer on the foot related to diabetes, would you report a diabetes diagnosis code? If surgical debridement is performed and the patient receives treatment for their diabetes, can you charge for both an office visit and debridement?
Q: I work for a hospital with a geriatric psychiatry unit. Many patients are discharged to nursing homes. Often, nursing homes contact the hospital for patient information, but we have only the patients' psychiatric records and are hesitant to send them. Is it permissible under HIPAA to send this information to a nursing home for continued care?
Q: We are having trouble determining what qualifies a patient as having an acute myocardial infarction (MI) and what documentation would support the diagnosis. Can you help our coding team clarify?
