FAQs

The OPPS Facility and Non-Facility rates apply to physician payments for procedures performed in an ambulatory surgical center (ASC) or emergency department. Since this information applies to ASC and EDs to avoid confusion, SuperCoder now includes that information under OPPS Fee Schedule, which is part of Outpatient Facility Coder. If you want to add outpatient facility (OPPS) features to a current SuperCoder subscription, contact a Client Services Representative toll free at 866-228-9252.

To see the ICD-9 Vol 1 codes typically reported to insurers for a CPT® surgical code, go to the CPT® code's details page and look on the right hand column's tool bar area under ICD-9 Vol1 CrossRef.

Yes, you can choose whether you want a codeset search to first take you to a code listing page (or the hierarchy view which shows you codes in that section) or directly to the code’s details page. To set your Search Settings, put your mouse over My SuperCoder and select Set Search Settings. Then, click the radio buttons to choose how you want the search to operate for each codeset included in your subscription.


You also have a shortcut to get you to a code’s hierarchy once you’re on a code’s details page. Each code’s details page includes the code’s ranges right at the top of the page. Simply click on a section to open a list that looks similar to how you'd view the code in an ICD-9 coding manual.
You can see a code's hierarchy view right from a code’s details page. To streamline searching, SuperCoder's May changes eliminated Search Settings and included an ICD-9 code's ranges right at the top of the page. Simply click on the link to open a list that looks similar to how you'd view the code in an ICD-9 coding manual.



Scroll through the hierarchy page to see the codes before and after your chosen code. For instance, clicking on the above highlighted link and scrolling down the page shows:

SuperCoder.com offers online medical coding information including code lookup, medical coding tools, and coding newsletters from the Coding Institute, LLC. Coders, physicians, insurers, and billers rely on SuperCoder to access official code descriptors and guidelines, how-to coding articles, coding questions, and coding crosswalks that streamline coders and billers work and improve coding accuracy, compliance, and profitability.

Code Search: Simultaneously search across 4 codesets (CPT®, HCPCS, ICD-9, and ICD-10-CM). Identify the correct code easier thanks to coding analyst weighted search results that show you the most likely codes first and insight provided with official code descriptors, coding guidelines, Lay Terms, and Illustrations.

Fast Coder: Boost modifier, CCI, and LCD compliance with code search plus four compliance tools including Allowed Modifiers, CCI Edits Checker, LCD Lookup, and CPT® <-> HCPCS.

Coding Newsletters: A monthly* subscription to a Coding Alert provides essential coding updates, innovative case studies, and revenue-boosting tips all specific to your specialty. Choose from 30+ specialties offered in two convenient formats: online or online plus print. Quickly get the on-target specialty-specific info you need thanks to keyword and code searchable archives of your Coding Alert included with each Coding Newsletter subscription.
* Part B Insider is a weekly publication on Medicare regulations and multispecialty coding.

Physician Coder: Unleash the full power of SuperCoder with online code search plus six compliance tools all connected to a Coding Alert subscription. You'll get all the growing accuracy-improving coding education you need tied to Allowed Modifiers, CCI Edits Checker, LCD Lookup, 7-in-1 Fee Schedules, and ICD-9 CrossRef.

Facility Coder: Inpatient facility and outpatient facility coders get all the added code search and coding tools they need to keep their hospital coding or ambulatory surgery center (ASC) coding compliant. No hassles switching between Part A and Part B sites thanks to everything from Physician Coder plus DRG or APC code search, monthly facility-specific advice, and facility coding tools.

Ask an Expert: Save time researching your coding questions with expert coding answers to your coding questions delivered to the forum within 24 hours on business days. Pick from annual subscriptions that allow you to submit 5, 10, or 15 questions each month.

SuperCoding On-Demand: Struggling with an op report? Let the Coding Institute's education experts provide the solution-HIPAA secure! Simply submit a single question whenever you need a coding expert solution. Receive your answer right in your inbox within 24 hours M-F.

Code Connect: Combats denials with official guidance on CPT® codes from the AMA. Search by code for CPT® Assistant coding articles from 1990 to the present. Stedman's Medical Dictionary: Look up thousands of medical terms to properly credit your physician's documentation.

Survival Guides: Jump start your understanding of top coding errors including official coding guidelines, Medicare regulations, and private payer variations with 10 specialty procedural and 4 codeset specific coding encyclopedias.

CEUs: Earn up to 38 annual CEUs from AAPC or 10 annual CEUs from AHIMA. Tune into your monthly Coding Alert, Webinar Archives, and bimonthly coding news in SuperCoder Bolt and then pass an online quiz to collect each CEU certificate.

With SuperCoder, you get online medical coding information sorted and analyzed by education experts from the unbiased Coding Institute. You code faster, better thanks to tons of medical coding advice and official guidance at your fingertips. This user-friendly site is designed and updated by certified coders so you always have the most up-to-date coding guidance and reliable experts you can turn to at any time.

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The Coding Institute is SuperCoder.com's parent company.

SuperCoder.com has grown by leaps and bounds since its original conception as Coding 411 not more than a decade ago. SuperCoders roots go back 60+ years to the founding of the Coding Institute and its national recognized coding experts who bring 110 years of combined coding expertise to coders, physicians, and payers. In addition to SuperCoder, the Coding Institute’s other sister divisions include AudioEducator and Eli HealthCare.

Logged in users can determine their status under My SuperCoder>Profile Click on the Subscription tab for detailed historical information about your purchases and subscription term.

Registration is FREE. Simply supply your email and you get instant access to coding news, Webinar Now Playing, searchable Medicare Transmittals, Job Board, and Coding 911. Subscribers are paid users who have bought a monthly or annual subscription and have access to CEU opportunities and Archived Webinars.

If you have a question about the coding content or coding tools data at any time, email CustomerService@SuperCoder.com. SuperCoder's coding specialists will research your question and provide support for our findings through the Customer Service department. For answers to coding questions, subscribe to Ask an Expert for monthly topic-specific questions submission and SuperCoding On-Demand for op report and individual coding question submission.

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A valid credit card is required. We will not charge your credit card until 7 days. You can cancel your trial with no charge up to 5 days prior to the end of your trial.

Your trial lets you try all the code search, medical coding tools, Coding Alert articles, and Survival Guides included in the product’s subscription. You will not have access to CEU quizzes.

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Code Search: Simultaneously search across 4 codesets (CPT®, HCPCS, ICD-9, and ICD-10-CM). Identify the correct code easier thanks to coding analyst weighted search results that show you the most likely codes first and insight provided with official code descriptors, coding guidelines, Lay Terms, and Illustrations.

Fast Coder: Boost modifier, CCI, and LCD compliance with code search plus four compliance tools including Allowed Modifiers, CCI Edits Checker, LCD Lookup, and CPT® <-> HCPCS.

Coding Newsletters: A monthly* subscription to a Coding Alert provides essential coding updates, innovative case studies, and revenue-boosting tips all specific to your specialty. Choose from 30+ specialties offered in two convenient formats: online or online plus print. Quickly get the on-target specialty-specific info you need thanks to keyword and code searchable archives of your Coding Alert included with each Coding Newsletter subscription.
* Part B Insider is a weekly publication on Medicare regulations and multispecialty coding.

Physician Coder: Unleash the full power of SuperCoder with online code search plus six compliance tools all connected to a Coding Alert subscription. You’ll get all the growing accuracy-improving coding education you need tied to Allowed Modifiers, CCI Edits Checker, LCD Lookup, 7-in-1 Fee Schedules, and ICD-9 CrossRef.

Facility Coder: Inpatient facility and outpatient facility coders get all the added code search and coding tools they need to keep their hospital coding or ambulatory surgery center (ASC) coding compliant. No hassles switching between Part A and Part B sites thanks to everything from Physician Coder plus DRG or APC code search, monthly facility-specific advice, and facility coding tools.

Ask an Expert: Save time researching your coding questions with expert coding answers to your coding questions delivered to the forum within 24 hours on business days. Pick from annual subscriptions that allow you to submit 5, 10, or 15 questions each month.

Code Connect: Combats denials with official guidance on CPT® codes from the AMA. Search by code for CPT® Assistant coding articles from 1990 to the present.

Stedman's Medical Dictionary: Look up thousands of medical terms to properly credit your physician’s documentation.

Survival Guides: Jump start your understanding of top coding errors including official coding guidelines, Medicare regulations, and private payer variations with 10 specialty procedural and 4 codeset specific coding encyclopedias.

Save money with annual pricing offered on all of the above listed products. Code Search and Fast Coder are available as a monthly or an annual subscription.

Code search includes 4 codesets: CPT®, ICD-9-CM Volumes 1 and 2, HCPCS level II, and ICD-10-CM codes.

Coding Tools and Coding Solutions provides 5-ways to search for a code including:

• KEYWORD & CODE SEARCH

Enter code(s) or a keyword (partial, whole, or abbreviation) to show all codes containing that phrase from our proprietary database of 200,000+ terms. For a keyword, SuperCoder ranks the results and lists the code ranges most related to the term first.
Search Tip: To search multiple codes, separate codes using a comma, such as 69210, 382.9, 99213.

• INDEX SEARCH - Electronic

Enter a term (partial or whole) to locate a code using the Alphabetic Index.

• INDEX SEARCH - Manual

Manually look up a term just like in an ICD-9 Coding Manual’s Volume 2 Alphabetic Index.

• RANGE SEARCH

Click on a range of codes to hone in on the code you need.

• DOCUMENT SEARCH

Enter code(s) or keyword(s) (whole or abbreviations) to view a list of codes and articles that contain the code and/or keyword(s).
Coding Newsletters subscribers can search across Coding Alert articles using the Document Search. Enter a keyword or code to locate the selected Coding Alerts and CMS documents to include in the search.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) developed the National Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) to promote national correct coding methodologies and to control improper coding resulting in significant overpayments to physicians. CMS based the CCI edits on coding conventions defined in the American Medical Association's CPT manual, national and local policies and edits, coding guidelines developed by national societies, analysis of standard medical and surgical practices, and a review of current coding practices. CCI edits do not incorporate all edits included in CPT.

SuperCoder.com CCI Edits Checker allows you to check from 2 to 25 CPT and HCPCS codes for applicable CCI edits. The user can check the code combinations allowed for the claim’s date of service going back to 2010. Simply select the applicable quarter form the drop down box. The color-coded system indicates which codes are allowed by CCI to be reported together. The user must also follow current procedural terminology CPT. Color-coded messages indicate:

• Red = These codes cannot be billed together in any circumstances.
• Yellow = These codes can be billed together with a modifier provided documentation and clinical circumstances support overriding the edit with a CCI-allowed modifier, such as modifier 25, 57, or 59.
• Green = There is no bundling issue. User should still check to ensure the combination is allowed per CPT and insurer-specific bundling edits.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) develops numerous fee schedules. SuperCoder's 7-in-1 Fee Schedules tool instantly matches a code to the applicable schedule including Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS), Physician Fee Schedule Modifier Allowances, Medically Unlikely Edits (MUEs), Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLAB), Average Sales Price (ASP), Average Wholesale Price (AWP), Durable Medical Equipment Prosthetics/Orthotics & Supplies (DMEPOS). The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule is a complete listing of fees that Medicare uses to pay doctors or other providers. The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule is a comprehensive listing of fee maximums used to reimburse a physician and/or other providers on a fee-for-service basis.

SuperCoder.com Fee Schedule shows you the code's national and local payments. You can either enter a code directly under the Coding Tools Fee Schedules link or get the information on a code's detail's page by clicking on the Fee Schedules tab.To use the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, select your Medicare carrier (you can make your carrier the default carrier for you by selecting the box that says 'Make it default'), and then select the "calculate" button. Search results will display relative value units (RVUs) for a non-facility, facility, modifier guidelines, and the global value for a specific CPT®/HCPCS code.

The Coding Institute is famous for offering coding advice specific to a medical specialty. The articles in SuperCoder.com come from the Coding Institute’s specialty Coding Alert newsletters. Each alert gives coders and physicians practical information on how to accurately and ethically code the common procedures for their specialty. The Coding Institute publishes more than 30 weekly and annual coding newsletters on topics such as ob-gyn coding, orthopedics coding, general surgery coding, urology coding, Medicare Part B coding, medical billing and collections, and more. A Coding Newsletter subscription gives you access to your chosen Coding Alert newsletter for one year including weekly or monthly articles as well as the alert’s complete searchable archives.

To search Coding Alert Archives, click on Coding Newsletters. Coding Solutions subscribers can view articles associated with a code directly on the code's details page as well as recent and top read articles on their specialty's Coder page.

ABN – (Advance Beneficiary Notice of Non-coverage) The ABN is a notice given to beneficiaries of Original Medicare to convey that Medicare is not likely to provide coverage in a specific case. “Notifiers” include physicians, providers (including institutional providers like outpatient hospitals), practitioners, and suppliers paid under Part B (including independent laboratories), as well as hospice providers and religious non-medical health care institutions (RNHCIs) paid exclusively under Part A.

CMS 1500 – The CMS-1500 form (Health Insurance Claim Form) is sometimes referred to as the AMA (American Medical Association) form. CMS-1500 is the prescribed form for claims prepared and submitted by physicians or suppliers (except for ambulance suppliers), whether or not the claims are assigned. Medicare Enrollment Application: Reassignment of Medicare Benefits – An individual who renders services and seeks to reassign his/her benefits to an eligible entity must complete the CMS-855R form for each entity eligible to receive reassigned benefits. The person must be enrolled in the Medicare program as an individual before reassigning his/her benefits. The CMS-855R form may be submitted concurrently with the CMS-855 form.

Medicare Enrollment Application: Physicians and Non-Physician Practitioners – A Physician or Non-Physician Practitioner must complete The CMS-855I form if they render medical services to Medicare beneficiaries. This form is processed through the Medicare carrier. Medicare Enrollment Application: Clinics/Group Practices and Certain Other Suppliers – This application (CMS-855B) is to be completed by a supplier (e.g. ambulance company, physician group, Part B drug vendor) that will bill Medicare carriers for medical services furnished to Medicare beneficiaries. It is not to be used to enroll individuals.

Financial Statement of Debtor – Sole proprietors must use the CMS Financial Statement of Debtor form (CMS-379) to request an extended repayment plan (ERP) for an overpayment debt. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Authorization Agreement – New enrollees are required to complete the most current Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) authorization agreement (CMS-588). The account must exclusively bear the name of the physician or individual practitioner, or the legal business name of the person or entity enrolled with Medicare. It cannot be a personal account shared with a significant other or any other party.

The Medicare Participating Physician or Supplier Agreement – The CMS-460 form is a formal recognition that you will accept assignment of benefits for all Medicare beneficiaries (patients). It must be submitted either within 90 days of initial enrollment with Medicare OR during the annual Open Enrollment period (typically mid-November through December 31st). Accepting an assignment means you agree to be paid the Medicare allowed amount for services provided to such beneficiaries. Patient's Request for Medical Payment – The Patient’s Request for Medical Payment form (CMS-1490S) is the primary claim form that is filed on the beneficiaries’ behalf (replaces HCFA-1490). This form is used by the beneficiary in order to file a claim with Medicare for services and/or supplies received.

Program transmittals are used to communicate new or revised policies and/or procedures that are being incorporated into a specific Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) program manual. The transmittals column in the CMS carrier centre summarizes the revisions to the material, specifically what has been changed.

Under Exclusives>CMS Center, select Transmittals. You can see the latest updates starting from the most recent to the oldest for any revisions that are already in effect or going to take effect soon. You can also use the search box at the top of the page to help you narrow your search down. The search function allows you to search by code or keyword.

Carriers and Medicare Administration Contractors (MACs) audit evaluation and management codes using both the 1995 and 1997 Documentation Guidelines (whichever is more advantageous to the physician). The Evaluation and Management Guidelines (1995 or 1997) used are chosen based on the guidelines that best fit the documentation submitted for the encounter.

This manual contains billing requirements, rules, and regulations as they pertain to Medicare in all settings. The Claims Processing Manuals provide information for such tasks as completing the CMS-1500 claim form used by physical and occupational therapists in private practice. In addition, it provides instructions for the completion of the UB-92 (CMS-1450) claim form used by providers of physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology services in all other settings excluding private practice. It also describes the use of Part B Outpatient Rehabilitation and CORF/OPT Services and other services of the same type.

The CMS Center, LCDs, Coding Alerts, and CEUs are updated weekly. CPT® codes, HCPCS level II codes, APCs, DRGs, and Lay Terms are updated quarterly. The data in the CCI Edits Checker, OPPS Edits, Fee Schedules, OPPS Fee Schedule, IPPS Fee Schedule, and crosswalks are updated on a quarterly basis. The ICD-9-CM codes and Survival Guides are updated annually.

Whenever you see simply click on the button and download a printable sheet. For a code's details page, the PDF will include the Code Descriptor, Lay Term, Coding Guidelines, CPT® Assistant article titles, ICD-9 Vol 1 CrossRef, and Fee Schedules depending on your subscription inclusions. Look for the same button at the top of CPT® Assistant articles. Save PDFs of articles in seconds to show a physician, supervisor, or payer. To email a Coding Alert article, click the blue and white yellow star button to the right of the PDF button.

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Mozilla Firefox is free to download at http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ and a breeze to use. In minutes, I converted to Firefox this fall after using Internet Explorer for years. I've never looked back.

Looking for a Diagnosis by Key Term? Follow ICD-9-CM Coding Conventions in SuperCoder.com.
Practice ICD-9-CM Official Coding and Reporting Guidelines in SuperCoder.com -- just like you did with your ICD-9-CM coding manual -- to locate the appropriate ICD-9-CM code using a key word. Start with the Alphabetic Index and search by the noun’s first letter. For instance, documentation indicates a patient has late effects of an ankle sprain. You look up late/effects/sprain and find 905.7. You click on the code to verify your selection in the Tabular List – just like ICD-9-CM Official Coding and Reporting Guidelines teach you.
Speed tip: For neoplasm and hypertension, you can skip step 1 and go straight to the Neoplasm Table and Hypertension Table located under the Alphabetic Index. Similarly you can search for CPT and HCPCS code

From SuperCoder's Home page, check the type of code you want to find. Selecting CPT, ICD-9, or HCPCS rather than the All box will make the search faster.
On other SuperCoder search pages, pick the codeset you’re looking for from the drop down menu.

You can customize your search to cut down on page clicks. SuperCoder search is set up to show a code’s full hierarchy, which allows you to see all codes in a given family. The full view prevents you from accidently choosing an incorrect code because you didn't see all possible codes. You see codes that might be more appropriate that you may not have otherwise considered. Speed tip: If you prefer to keep your search within the Details view, you can skip the hierarchy view and go directly from locating a searched term to the code's details page. Choose this option under Custom Search from SuperCoder's Main Menu

Go to the ICD-9 Index, select S. From the alphabetic index, go to "Sy". Scroll down to locate "Symptoms". Click on the + sign to open the associated terms. In the list, you'll see "abdomen NEC." Click on the red number 789.9 to see the code’s definition. If you have your custom search set on Details, you'll be taken directly to the code's detail page where you can view related Coding Institute Specialty Alert articles, the code's chapter guidelines, and more. If your search is set on Listings, clicking on 789.9 will take you to the code's hierarchal page, which will show you the code's subcategory and family codes.

A red dot indicates the code is new for that year.

From SuperCoder’s main menu, roll over Coding Answers and select Ask an Expert.

Click on the blue Submit a Question.

A new page will open. Take these steps:

1. Fill in the question title.
2. Enter your question in the middle box.
3. Select your specialty from the Choose a Category drop down menu.
4. Click the orange Send button.

SuperCoder’s coding experts will answer your query within 24 hours Monday through Friday (business days only) from 9 am to 5 pm Eastern Daylight Time.

To view your answer, go back to the Ask an Expert list. Under the green box, find your question title and click on it. Scroll down to see the expert answer.

Can’t find your title? Enter the key words in the Search box located on the right hand side of the screen. A list of questions and answers on that topic will appear from which you can select your title.

From a four-digit code's hierarchical view, click on the "+" sign to open the fifth digit code's in that subcategory.

Want to stay in a code's detail view and go up or down a code or two? On the top right hand code detail's box, look for your current code in blue sandwiched between two carats: << 52332 >>. Click the left arrow to go up a code and the right arrow to go down a code. To make navigating between screens even easier, look for the "Back" link at the bottom of code hierarchical and details pages to return to the previous page without scrolling back to the top of the page.

Yes, a SuperCoder.com search for this code indicates the code is deleted for 2013 and replaced by codes 95017 and 95018. On any code search window enter, 95015. A subscription to any SuperCoder product containing code search provides the result:


Click on 95017 and you see the new code's descriptor and articles discussing the new code:


Use the arrow button to review the differences between the two new codes as discussed under code 95018's 2013 Advice:

An MUE is a medically unlikely edit. Medicare places quantity limits on some CPT and HCPCS codes. You can find the frequency edit under a code’s Physician Fee Schedule MUE row. Look in the Global & Other Info under the final line.

SuperCoder's 2011 Physician Fee Schedule contains information from the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and the Clinical Lab Fee Schedule. If you are getting 0 values for a pathology code (80047-89398), you need to instead enter the code in the Path Lab Fee Schedule window (http://www.supercoder.com/coders-toolkit/fee-schedule/)

SuperCoder's Fee Schedule lets you check Medicare allowed modifiers, such as if 69210-50 is a valid entry. To find this information, go to SuperCoder's Fee Schedule, enter the questioned CPT code, and scroll down to the bottom of the results' display to Modifier Guidelines. To see whether Medicare allows the modifier on the code, look under the "Rules" heading and click on the blue text that applies to the modifier you're researching. For modifier 50 with 69210, the verbiage indicates Medicare factored payment for a bilateral service into a single unit of 69210, so you should not report 69210-50.

CMS published the Geographic Price Carrier Indice (GPCI) that determines the carrier specific rates using four decimals for the practice expense instead of three decimals. For example, for carrier 0512 and locality 00 (Mississippi), CMS calculated the practice expense GPCI as 0.9285 (4 decimals) when it should have used 0.929 (3 decimals). CMS has stated that they made a mistake on the table but they are not going to correct it since the published national rates are correct.

SuperCoder.com along with the other commercial fee schedule web-based applications are continuing to show the published amounts. If CMS publishes new locality data, we will update our system.

Medicare has specific names for the contractors that pay the kinds of Medicare claims: Part A (facility), Part B (physician), DME (durable medical equipment), and RHHI (home health). The first three types of claims have been switching from one contractor defined name to a different title, as required by the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. Therefore, the first three types of Medicare services have both an old transitioning title and a replacement title.

To view Local Coverage Determination (LCD) allowed ICD-9 codes or policy details for a given CPT code, you have to select a Contractor Type from SuperCoder's LCD page. Select the type of contractor based on the coding you're doing.
Physician Coders: If you're researching the local coverage determination (LCD) policy for submitting a Part B claim, you should select either Carrier or MAC - Part B. MAC (Medicare Administrative Contractor) Part B contractors are replacing Carrier (Part B) contractors. If your Medicare carrier has not made a switch, stick with Carrier. If your Carrier has transitioned to a MAC Part B contractor, select MAC - Part B.
Facility Coders: When looking for an LCD to file a Part A claim, select either Fiscal Intermediary (FI) or MAC - Part A. MAC Part A contractors are replacing Fiscal Intermediary (FI) contractors. If your FI contractor has not made a switch, stick with FI. If your FI contractor has transitioned to a MAC Part A contractor, select MAC - Part A.
Equipment Coders: If you're looking up a policy for durable medical equipment (DME, reuseable medical equipment ordered by a physician or other allowed nonphysician provider for use in the home sold through a vendor that has a DME license and paid for under both Medicare Part A and Part B under home health services), select one of the DME types:

• DMERC: If you want the durable medical equipment policy that a private company that contracts with Medicare has to pay bills for that DME, select DMERC (Durable Medical Equipment Regional Carrier).
• DME PSC or DME MAC: Policies that fall under Durable Medical Equipment Program Safeguard Contractors (PSC) will move to the DME Medicare Administrative Contractors (DME MACs). If your DME PSC contractor has not made the transition to a DME MAC, select DME PSC. If your DME PSC has made this transition, select DME MAC.

Training, courses and quizzes are included in the course. The course does not currently offer AAPC and AHIMA-approved CEUs.

You can login to the course with your user id and complete the chapters at your own pace. Quizzes are included at the end of main chapters for you to test your understanding. To ease your understanding of our ICD-10 courses, online demos and an instructional manual are coming soon. A representative would be happy to show you how the course works for you to assess the benefits this on-line learning platform provides.

No, but you may subscribe to ICD-10 code search, ICD-10 coding tools, and ICD-10 Coding Alert by purchasing ICD-10 Coder on SuperCoder.com. ICD-10 Coder includes Code Search of ICD-10-CM, ICD-9 Vol 1-2, CPT, and HCPCS along with monthly coding advice in the online newsletter ICD-10 Coding Alert, an ICD-9-ICD 10 Bridge that includes GEMS and approximation logics to help you map your ICD-9 codes to ICD-10. In addition, ICD-9 code details pages include the associated ICD-10 codes so you can learn the new codes as you code today.

ICD-10 Elearning courses include technical and curriculum support. For any questions pertaining to access and the lessons email your question to ICD10@supercoder.com For curriculum support, all training course questions are answered by our certified coders. Questions are answered by our certified coders within 24 hours, Monday-Friday 9 am – 5 pm EST on business days.

For ICD-10 questions not about the training course, the ICD-10 Coder Practical Applications and ICD-10 Coder’s Total Prep include 5 ICD-10 questions that you may ask on SuperCoder.com’s Ask an Expert ICD-10. These questions are also answered by our certified coders within 24 hours on business days. You may purchase Ask an Expert questions at http://www.supercoder.com/coding-answers/ask-an-expert

No CEUs are currently offered.

To reach the ICD-10 Elearning home page, enter in your browser window: http://elearning.supercoder.com/
On clicking enter, you will go to SuperCoder’s generic ICD-10 Elearning home page. To access your course(s), log in by entering your 1) Username and 2) Password and 3) clicking LOGIN.

You can access the course either:

• From Logged in SuperCoder

When you are logged in on SuperCoder to go your Elearning course, 1) in SuperCoder’s main menu hover over “ICD-10” and 2) at the bottom of the drop down menu select your course title such as "ICD-10 Coder’s Total Prep." On clicking the title, you will go to your course’s home page and be automatically logged in.

• Directly From Browser

In your browser window, enter http://elearning.supercoder.com/
On clicking enter, you will go to SuperCoder’s generic ICD-10 Elearning home page. To access your course(s), log in by entering your 1) Username and 2) Password and 3) clicking LOGIN.

No, you will use the same username and password you use for SuperCoder.com on elearning.supercoder.com. Synching your account information allows you to be automatically logged in when accessing your Elearning course(s) from within SuperCoder.com.

For immediate customer service on how to use the courseware or account information, email ICD10@supercoder.com

Under the left Navigation panel, you will find My Profile Settings. To change your Username or email, click on Edit profile. To change your password, click on Change Password.

If you have a subscription to ICD-10 Coder Practical Applications or ICD-10 Coder’s Total Prep, you may ask 5 noncourse ICD-10 questions on SuperCoder.com’s Ask an Expert ICD-10. You may access Ask an Expert:

• From Logged in http://elearning.supercoder.com/:

Click on the top left SuperCoder.com logo. You will be taken to logged in SuperCoder.com.

• From SuperCoder.com:

Login to SuperCoder.com using the same username and password as you use on http://elearning.supercoder.com/
From the SuperCoder.com main menu, click on Coding Answers and the blue Submit a Question button.

From the SuperCoder.com main menu, mouse over Coding Answers and select ICD-10. Scroll down to find your question title or search by keyword for your title.

Start a chapter from either the:

• 1A. left Navigation panel

Click on the triangle to see the chapter titles.

• 1B. Gray bar in the Reading panel

Click on the chapter title to go to the chapter’s Topic outline.



• 2A. From the left Navigation panel

Click on the triangle or chapter title.

3A) Click the chapter title.

3B) Click on the topic.

• 2B. From the box under Topic outline

Click on the topic to go to the lesson’s first page.



After you click on a topic, the lesson’s first page will appear in the main Reading Panel.



Now simply click on the arrow at the bottom of each page to advance through the chapter to the end of chapter quiz.

At the bottom of a lesson page, you will see arrows that guide you to next, previous, last, first or home page of that chapter. Click a symbol to:
move on to next page
go back to previous page
go to the last page in the chapter
go to the first page in the chapter
go to the home screen

Most chapters include a quiz at the end. You can reach the quiz by:

• Advancing Through the Chapter

If you progress through the lessons using the next page arrow, after you read the last section lesson, the quiz will start automatically.

• Clicking on the Quiz Title

From the Navigation panel or Topic outline, look for the red checkmark indicating a quiz. Click on the quiz link to start the section test.

Note: You cannot access the quiz unless you have read the section’s lesson by clicking through the pages.

In the left Navigation panel, click on My Courses. The arrow will rotate to upside down and the chapter titles will become visible.

You can know your progress by simply completing a CEU quiz at the end of each chapter. Once you are satisfied with your score, you can end the learning process.

You cannot access a quiz unless you have clicked through the lesson’s pages to “read” the section’s lesson.

• International Classification of Diseases ICD-9 Volume I - Tabular listing
• International Classification of Diseases ICD-9 Volume II - Index to Diseases
• Current Procedural Terminology CPT
• CPT Modifiers
• Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System HCPCS Level II
• HCPCS Level II Modifiers
• All medical specialties except Anesthesia
• NCD/LCD Coverage
• Medicare contractors by state
• NCCI Bundling/Unbundling Edits
• National Physician Fee Schedule - Relative Value Units, Global Surgery

There are 4 different levels of error messages that the coder should be aware of. You should fix the critical and high errors. Medium and low error changes are up to the coder’s discretion.

Due to the requirements of our claim scrubber, no trial period is allowed.

You may receive a refund but the $20 processing fee is nonrefundable. In other words, we will refund your account for the cost of the scrubber minus $20.

SuperScrubber for Physicians provides short-term demographic storage but not long-term storage of results. Patient information is stored between error reports. You can fix a claim after viewing the error messages without reentering patient and encounter data. Once you exit the claim, the data must be reenetered.

The SuperScrubber real-time individual claim scrubber tools do not allow printing. For copies of your errors and storage, try SuperScrubber for Batches (coming in March).

To check the claim for Medicare LCD ICD-9 allowed codes, you must select your contractor or carrier number. If you don’t know your contractor’s number, click on the blue Contractor letters and select the contractor name from the pop-up list.

While SuperScrubber for Batches will improve your claim acceptance rate, it will not completely eliminate all your denials. A full solution requires a scrubber that can have a customized rule set that takes the knowledge of the billing company or medical practices and codifies it so that it can be applied to every claim before submission.

In your browser window, enter https://www.supercoder.com/login. Log in by entering your email/username and password. From SuperCoder's main menu, mouse over "Coding Tools" and under Batch Proccessing, click on "CMS 1500."

On http://www.supercoder.com/scrubber/batch-processing/, follow these steps to upload a file:

1. Click on Choose File
2. Navigate to the location on the file's location on your system.
3. Click Open
   
4. You will see the "Pending" message indicating the file you selected.
5. Click Upload
   
   Note: Larger files containing multiple claims and/or claims with numerous codes may take up to 3 minutes to load.
6. You will see your file in the Batch Dashboard below the Submit a Batch grey box
   

SuperCoder's Batch Scrubber will assign your file a Batch ID number (B#).

From left to right, you will see a column for:

• BATCH ID (#BIxx) that SuperCoder’s Batch Scrubber assigns to each file on upload
• FILE NAME that you saved the file as on your system
• CLAIMS shows the number of claims included in the batch file
• UPLOAD DATE which displays the date you uploaded the file into SuperCoder’s Batch Scrubber
• STATUS indicates the most severe error level detected in the claims
• ACTIONS you can take on the file. These include file:
  • Repair – see the individual claims in the file
  • Delete – remove the batch file
  • Export – save the batch file back to the user's system.

The Status Flag color (red - critical, medium - orange, yellow – low, green - clean) indicates the most severe level found on any of the claims included in the batch file. This gives the coder a glimpse of the files with the most severe errors so that she may work them first. The flag color indicates 4 levels:

From the Batch Dashboard, the user can select from these file actions:

• Repair – see the individual claims in the file
• Delete – remove the batch file
• Export – save the batch file back to the user's system.

The batch claim list includes columns for (From left to right):

• CLAIM ID - (CI#xxxxxx) that a user assigns to each claim on upload
• CLAIM DATE OF SERVICE which displays the claim's date of service pulled from the data you included in the file
• NO. OF EDITS the number of edits the Batch Scrubber detected in the claim
• STATUS indicates the most severe error level detected in the file
• TYPE OF ERRORS gives a summary of 6 error groups (E.g. modifier, CPT®-ICD Mismatch)found in the file
• ACTIONS you can take on the file. These include file review of a file that has:
  • -Changes from the user
  • -No changes from the user
• EXPORT – Check the box under Export to include the claim in the batch file for export back to the user’s system
  • Tip: A Select All box is included at the top and bottom of the Batch Claim List for quick inclusion of all a file's claims for export. Or the user can choose to export only claims that she has changed.
• BACK - Click the yellow BACK button located at the top of Batch Claim List on the dark blue bar to return to the Batch Dashboard

SuperCoder's Batch Scrubber is designed for the coder to be able to instantly start making adjustments to the claim. Here's how:

1. From the Batch Claim List, click the claim’s Review button. The claim data is automatically loaded into the CMS 1500 form and ready for instant reworking. For quick error fixing, errors are shown at each code level. The same errors are summarized at the bottom of the claim.
2. Make any changes. To add more CPT® or HCPCS level II codes, click the green Add Procedure button. Add ICD-9 codes by clicking Add 3 More under the Diagnosis Code column.
3. Click Submit and review the updated error messages. All information on the claim and on the claim's Batch Claim List will be refreshed.

No claim edit history is saved. A report showing changes available for saving will be coming soon.

Click the blue BACK button and you will go back to the Batch Claim List showing the updated claim status including updated error message number.

SuperCoder’s CMS 1500 Scrubber Real Time and for Batch Processing scrubs claims for more than 50 top denial triggers and suggests compliance-increasing fixes.

CCI Edits

• Explains when modifier 59 is appropriate
• Improves compliance by alerting to bundled codes
• Protects payments with modifier allowed prompt
• Suggests modifier 25 application as needed

• Checks if ICD-9 code is valid for date of service
• Ensures claims aren’t denied due to missing 4th or 5th digit
• Checks if CPT® code is valid for date of service
• Checks for invalid procedure code

• CPT® hierarchy relationship
• CPT® parent-child relationship
• incorrect anesthesia modifier application
• missing base code
• modifier 24-code conflict
• modifier 25-code mismatch
• modifier 63 nonallowance
• E code misordering
• V code incorrect order
• Wrong modifier based on place of service

• ICD-9 code and gender conflict
• CPT® code and age conflict
• CPT® code and gender conflict

• CPT®-ICD-9 code CrossRef using top diagnoses submitted to insurers for procedure
• LCD
• NCD

• bilateral modifier 50
• modifier 57

• code status
• professional, technical components
• unis-bilateral modifier 50

• suggesting RVU descending-value code reordering
• checking:
  • assistant surgeon allowance
  • modifier 51 excemptions
  • co-surgeons allowance
  • team surgeons permission

• Stops over coding with MUE violation warning

• Age
• Date of service
• Gender

• Prevents paybacks with modifier 51 reminder.

1. Batch Claim List: Select individual or all claims to include in the file and click the export button at the bottom of the list. The file will automatically download to your system.
   
2. Batch Dashboard: Click export and all claims in the file will be exported to you
   

The same format that you used to upload the file will be used as the export file.

XML. 837 is coming soon.

1. Download the sample XML form from the Tool page and save the XML onto desktop or any other location on your hard disk.
2. Right click on the XML file – go to “Edit” and open the file with Notepad or Wordpad. In the Notepad or Wordpad, you can add or delete claim lines as per your data to be scrubbed. Also, modify the data fields into each claim line – put your own coding data such as:
   Claim ID (this should be unique for every single claim)
   
   Patient Information:
     Patient Name
     Birth Date (DOB) [date must be entered in YYYY-MM-DD format. Always use "hyphen (-)" in between+
     Gender
     Encounter date (DOS/Date of Service) [date must be entered in YYYY-MM-DD format. Always use "hyphen (-)" in between]
   
   LCD info (if LCD is to be checked):
     State (Abbreviated term)
     Contractor type
   
   Coding Information:
     Procedure code (CPT® / HCPCS)
     Diagnosis code (ICD-9 Vol.1code) [max. 4 diagnosis codes per CPT®/HCPCS code]
     Modifier (for corresponding CPT®/ HCPCS only) [max. 4 Modifiers per CPT®/HCPCS code]
     Unit (Unit of CPT®/HCPCS codes to be billed)
   
   When necessary, add more claim IDs and other claim lines based on your no. of claims in a single batch. Just paste the previous claim ID’s lines in the editable notepad and then replace the coding data and patient info as per the new claim/chart.
3. Once all data modifications are complete for an entire batch, just press "CTRL S" to Save the file. The data modifications are automatically changed and saved in the same downloaded XML form. Now open the XML by doubleclicking on it and you can see the data changes reflected in it.

The input date must be in "yyyy-mm-dd" format. You must use "-"(hyphen) in the date. *E.g. – 10th March, 2011 should be entered as, 2011-03-11]

To fill up the required fields in the XML form
Select Contractor Type
1 -- Carrier
2 -- FI
3 -- RHHI
4 -- DMERC
6 -- DME PSC
8 -- MAC - Part A
9 -- MAC - Part B
10 -- DME MAC
11 -- HHH MAC

Select State Index Number (in "Contractor state" area of XML)

500

A single claim has addable lines to include more than 100 CPT® and/or HCPCS level II codes. Each line item can contain 4 ICD-9 codes, 4 modifiers, and 1 unit field.

The Scrubber for Batch Processing does not currently offer individual rules or allow users to add their own rules. Email customerservice@supercoder.com with your specifics and we will look into fulfilling your request. Our mission is to make our products meet our clients' needs.

To ensure complete HIPAA compliance, no claim information is stored on the site. The Batch file is available after uploading the file for 1 hour in case you need to reload the file.

Yes, you may try the Scrubber for Batch Processing at no charge for 7 days.

After logging into SuperCoder, go to My Accounts and click on My Subscriptions. Click Cancel Trial. Please give us feedback on your decision as we strive to improve our products and the best way for us to do so is to learn from you our customers.

While Scrubber for Batch Processing will improve your claim acceptance rate, it will not completely eliminate all your denials. Some denial reasons are insurer-specific and require an insurer-level scrubber that includes the insurer's private rules. These scrubbers, however, can be hard for a coder to understand and has to be run per insurer. By pre-insurer reviewing the claims, coders can work claims faster for even faster insurer-level scrubbing.

The coder views the error report and makes any adjustments. The biller can then take the XML adjusted items and incorporate them into the billing software.

Please call customer service at 1-866-228-9252. A customer care representative will help you in setting up your account.

The sections listed represent: OPPS Freestanding: If you are in a freestanding ASC (meaning one not owned or partially owned by a hospital), the facility portion (or the center’s portion) of the procedure is paid under the Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS). MPFS Physician: For all ASCs, the professional portion (or the physician portion) of the procedure is paid to the physician under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). MPFS Facility RVUs are used to calculate the reimbursement due to the physician under Part B for the professional services. APC Hospital Based: ASCs that are partially or fully owned by a hospital, report the facility cost using an Ambulatory Payment Classification (APC).

Facility RVUs: In an ASC, the professional portion (or the physician portion) of the procedure is paid to the physician under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) using the facility RVUs. These do not include costs associated with the facility, which are charged separately to the Fiscal Intermediary (Part A). MPFS Facility RVUs are used to calculate the reimbursement due to the physician under Part B for the professional services provided in a facility setting. Nonfacility RVUs: The professional portion (or the physician portion) of a procedure provided in an office or other nonfacility setting is paid under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). Nonfacility RVUs are used to calculate the reimbursement due to the physician under Part B provided in a nonfacility setting, which accounts for the physician’s added costs of rent, staff, etc.

This list of codes details device codes (HCPCS C codes) that per CMS require modifier FB or modifier FC on the ASC procedure code when the device is furnished at no cost or with full or partial credit. These C codes have no ASC payment assigned (Packaged service/item; no separate payment made), and also have no APC group assigned. These C codes are used "in pairs" with certain CPT / HCPCS codes (under ASC list ), when devices are implanted during surgery. The FB /FC modifier is then required to be appended to that CPT code .

Description: Item Provided Without Cost to Provider, Supplier or Practitioner or a credit was received that covers the cost of the replaced device. Required for Claims: ASC and ED Claims subject to the Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) Coding Guidelines: 1) Modifier FB is used only when the manufacturer provides the item without cost or the ASC receives a full credit for the cost of the item. 2) Modifier FB is always attached to the surgical procedure code, not the device code. 3) Modifier FB should not be used when the ASC/ED receives only a partial credit toward the cost of the item . THE CENTER/HOSPITAL MUST LOOK AT THE COST OF THE ITEM—NOT THE ASC's/HOSPITAL'S CHARGE FOR THE ITEM – to determine if full credit was received. General Guidelines: Condition codes 49 & 50 are utilized to describe an item that is provided without cost to a provider, supplier, or practitioner for use of items that are under warranty or defective: 49: Product Replacement within Product Life cycle 50: Product Replacement of a Known Recall of a Product Source: Coding Alert

If the ASC receives a partial credit of 50 percent or more of the cost of a specified replacement device due to warranty, recall, or field action, the ASC is required to include modifier FC (Partial credit received for replaced device) on the procedure code if the procedure is on the list of specified procedures to which the FC reduction applies. Medicare contractors pay ASCs a reduced amount for the specified procedures billed with modifier FC to account for the lower cost to the facility to furnish the procedure. Source: CMS

Yes, the Outpatient Facility Coder on the CCI Centric page checks your code combination against the OPPS CCI that all ASCs must follow. The values are ordered in descending value order based on whether you select that the procedure has been performed in the ASC (F) or in the office exam room (NF).

Anesthesia Coder includes numerous features all fully integrated in your CPT® code search including:

• ASA CROSSWALK®
• ASA Reverse CROSSWALK®
• Relative Value Guide®
• adjustable unit-time and day calculator
• annual subscription to Anesthesia Coding Alert with articles added monthly
• complete past archives of Anesthesia Coding Alert.

The geometric mean length of stay or (GMLOS) is the national mean length of stay for each diagnostic related grouper (DRG) as determined and published by CMS. The arithmetic mean length of stay (ALOS) is the average length of stay experienced by a patient within a chosen DRG. The geometric mean reduces the effect of very high or low values, which might bias the mean if a straight average (arithmetic mean) is used. Hospitals can use GMLOS and ALOS to analyze reimbursement impacting areas. For instance, a hospital analyst could collect their hospital’s ALOS for hospital inpatients in a particular DRG admitted on a particular day of the week to the GMLOS. Variations in the length of stay relative to the day of the week that a patient was admitted can identify days that the hospital is receiving less reimbursement for stays that go over the GMLOS. The analyst can then look for possible patterns or downfalls (for instance patients admitted on Friday have a longer LOS due to lack of testing over the weekend). In addition, patient charts can be identified that have longer GMLOS for a DRG to see if conditions were missed that would equate to a higher reimbursing DRG.

You can be your practice's hero thanks to these benefits from CPT<->ICD-9 CrossRef:
Saves Money

• Billers can dodge #1 denial reason by ensuring ICD-9 code matches CPT® code.
• Staff can work denials more efficiently by matching ICD-9 to CPT® codes and visa versa from one of three in-workflow points.

• You can look up CPT↔ICD-9 code links as you’re searching without switching places
• Blue code text means you can jump from ICD-9 code to associated CPT® code details in a single click.

• CPT<->ICD-9 CrossRef provides helpful info so billers can research the potential source of repeat denials.
• CPT<->ICD-9 CrossRef autosuggests complete codes as you type so you get to your code faster.

CPT<->ICD-9 CrossRef shows you top submitted CPT® codes for a complete ICD-9 volume 1 code and vise versa. The Coding Institute certified coders have used CMS and private payer data along with analysis and in-the-trenches reporting to determine correctly associated codes.

You get a stand-alone tool and code search level information to meet multiple workflow needs.

• Standalone tool - Enter either a complete ICD-9 volume 1 code or a CPT® surgical code (10000-90000) and see associated codes from the other codeset.
  
  

• Code search level information - Code details pages for CPT® surgical codes (10000-90000) and complete ICD-9 volume 1 codes show top submitted codes from the other codeset.
  
  

You can access CPT<->ICD-9 CrossRef dual entry tool in the following location(s):

• SuperCoder's main menu - Hover over Coding Tools and select from the dropdown menu, CPT<->ICD-9 CrossRef
  
  

• With a Coding Solutions subscription, you get an extra stand-alone tool access point right on your Coding Solutions home page. Look under Tools & Reference, click on the CPT<->ICD-9 CrossRef tab (previously titled: ICD-9 XREF).
  
  

On a code details page, look under the green Crosswalks bar as follows:

• On a complete ICD-9 volume 1 code details page under the green Crosswalks bar, click on the CPT CROSSREF tab. You'll see CPT® codes associated with the page's ICD-9 code.
  
  

• On a surgical CPT® code (series 10000-90000) details page, look under the green Crosswalks bar, click on the ICD-9 Vol 1 CROSSREF tab. You'll see ICD-9 volume 1 codes associated with the page's CPT® code.
  
  

• If you have a subscription to DRG Coder on complete ICD-9 volume 3 code details pages, look under Crosswalks and click on the CPT CROSSREF tab.
  
  

If you have a subscription to DRG Coder on complete ICD-9 volume 3 code details pages, look under Crosswalks and click on the CPT CROSSREF tab.

CPT<->ICD-9 CrossRef includes diagnoses associated with CPT® surgical codes (10000-90000). In the future, the thousands error will be changed to show actual codes.
If you have a request for a specific code crosswalk, email it to customerservice@supercoder.com The coding team will try to provide the data to you and to add the information into the tool.