Tag: CDC

  • FY 2019 ICD-10 Code Changes Released

    FY 2019 ICD-10 Code Changes Released

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released the fiscal year 2019 ICD-10-CM code changes, which become effective Oct. 1. The changes include 473 total new code changes with 279 new codes, 143 revised codes, 51 deactivated codes, and 39 additional changes added from a proposed rule list. There are changes to the International…

  • Liquid Gold or Reimbursement Trap? Payor Reimbursement Policies for Urine Drug Testing

    Liquid Gold or Reimbursement Trap? Payor Reimbursement Policies for Urine Drug Testing

    Last summer, we wrote about physician roles and responsibilities to implement best practices in pain management programs and other treatments involving the prescription of opioids.1 Here we discuss issues related to getting paid to implement one of these best practices — appropriate urine drug testing. The urine drug testing field has been described as a…

  • CDC Reports Rising Rates of Drug Overdose Deaths in Rural Areas

    CDC Reports Rising Rates of Drug Overdose Deaths in Rural Areas

    Rates of drug overdose deaths are rising in nonmetropolitan (rural) areas, surpassing rates in metropolitan (urban) areas, according to a new report in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Drug overdoses are the leading cause of injury death in the United States,…

  • New CDC Study: Changes in Breast Cancer Death Rates by Age Group

    New CDC Study: Changes in Breast Cancer Death Rates by Age Group

    Breast cancer death rates among women decreased during 2010-2014, but racial differences persisted, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The findings show changes for death rates from breast cancer by age group for black and white women, the groups with the highest death rates in the United States.…