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The STS 2023 Coding Workshop: Best Practices for Cardiothoracic Surgery is a 2-day virtual event that will provide cardiothoracic surgery coders, surgeons, and all billing professionals with the latest coding and reimbursement updates affecting cardiothoracic surgical practices. Sessions will include live discussion with attendees, Q&A responding to scenario-based questions submitted by attendees before and during the meeting, and challenging coding examples.
This educational event covers coding and reimbursement changes and issues specific to cardiothoracic surgery, with concentrations in the changes to the hospital inpatient and observation care, discharge day management and other Evaluation and Management (E/M) visits, adult cardiac surgery, congenital heart surgery, general thoracic surgery, and vascular surgery. The program also focuses on reimbursement issues affecting the specialty as a whole.
Friday, February 10
4:00 p.m. ET – 4:15 p.m. ET – Welcome/Introductions
4:15 p.m. ET – 5:15 p.m. ET – Adult Cardiac Q&A
5:15 p.m. ET – 6:00 p.m. ET – Congenital Cardiac Q&A
6:00 p.m. ET – 6:45 p.m. ET – Vascular Surgery Q&A
Saturday, February 11
10:00 a.m. ET – 10:45 a.m. ET – E/M, Critical Care Q&A
10:45 a.m. ET – 11:30 a.m. ET – E/M Updates, Telehealth Q&A
11:30 a.m. ET – 12:00 p.m. ET – Break
12:00 a.m. ET – 12:30 p.m. ET – General Thoracic Q&A
12:30 p.m. ET – 1:30 p.m. ET – Esophageal Q&A
1:30 p.m. ET – 2:00 p.m. ET – Physician Documentation Q&A
Session 1: (5 hours total)
V. Seenu Reddy, MD and Stephen Lahey, MD
Coding for Adult Cardiac Surgery
- Code selection, coding tips, documentation
- 2023 Adult Cardiac Surgery Coding Update
- CABG Procedures
- Maze Procedures
- Aortic Valve Procedures
- TAVR
- Mitral Valve Procedures
- Pulmonary and Tricuspid Valve Procedures
- VADS
- ECMO
- Thoracic Aortic Procedures
- Other Adult Cardiac Procedures
- Coding Scenarios and Q&A (Live) (1 hour)
Session 2: (3.75 hours total)
Joseph Turek, MD, Jeffrey P. Jacobs, MD, and James D. St. Louis, MD
Coding for Congenital Cardiac Surgery
- Code selection, coding tips, documentation
- 2023 Congenital Cardiac Surgery Coding Update
- Congenital Cardiac Valve Procedures
- Complex Cardiac Anomalies
- Coding for Septal Defects
- VAD and ECMO Procedures
- Other Congenital Procedures
- Coding Scenarios and Q&A (Live) (45 minutes)
Session 3: (4 hours total)
Sunita Srivastava, MD
Documentation, Coding Tips, and Considerations for Vascular Surgery
- Code selection, coding tips, documentation
- 2023 Vascular Surgery Coding Update
- TEVAR: Thoracic Endovascular Aneurysm Repair)
- EVAR: Endovascular Aortic Therapies
- FEVAR: Fenestrated/Branched Endograph
- Embolectomy and Thrombectomy
- Vascular Catheterizations
- Endovascular Venous Therapies
- Hemodialysis coding
- Peripheral Venous Insufficiency
- Coding Scenarios and Q&A (Live) (45 minutes)
Session 4: (2.25 hours total)
Richard Freeman, MD and John A. Howington, MD
General Thoracic Surgery Coding for Thoracic Procedures and Surgery
- Code selection, coding tips, documentation
- 2023 General Thoracic Coding Update
- Bronchoscopy Procedures
- Open Lung Resections
- Thoracoscopic Lung Resections
- Other Thoracic Surgery Procedures
- Pleural Procedures
- Mediastinal, Pericardial, Thymectomy, and Diaphragmatic Procedures
- Musculoskeletal Procedures
- Coding Scenarios and Q&A (Live) (45 minutes)
Session 5: (2.25 hours total)
Francis Nichols III, MD
General Thoracic Surgery Coding for Esophageal Procedures and Surgery
- Code selection, coding tips, documentation
- 2023 Esophageal Coding Update
- Endoscopic Esophageal Procedures
- Esophageal Resection Procedures
- Hiatal Hernia Procedures
- Other Esophageal Procedures
- Coding Scenarios and Q&A (Live) (45 minutes)
Session 6: (4.5 hours total)
Aaron Cheng, MD, Francis Nichols III, MD, and Julie Painter, MBA, CPA, CCVTC
Evaluation and Management Coding for Cardiothoracic Surgery
- 2023 Evaluation and Management Procedure Coding – Office/Outpatient, Consultations, Hospital Inpatient and Observation and Prolonged Services
- Critical Care Services
- Telehealth Overview for CT Surgery
- 2023 Telehealth Update – PHE
- Coding Scenarios and Q&A (Live) (1.5 hours)
Session 7: (1.75 hours total)
Sanjay Samy, MD, Francis Nichols III, MD, and Julie Painter, MBA, CPA, CCVTC
The Role of the Physician in Documentation and Reimbursement
- Overview of Physician and Hospital Reimbursement
- Documentation Considerations and Strategies
- Coding and Documentation Tips to Achieve Maximum Reimbursement
- Coding Scenarios and Q&A (Live) (30 minutes)
Target Audience
Cardiothoracic surgery coders, surgeons, office managers, medical billing specialists, physician assistants, nurses, and anyone else involved in the coding, reimbursement, and compliance efforts for the cardiothoracic surgery team.
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:
- Identify new CPT codes, updates, and payment policies affecting cardiothoracic surgery coding for 2023.
- Relate the importance of specificity and identification of services provided in a patient encounter.
- Recognize coding and reimbursement criteria in order to identify and capture relevant documentation elements efficiently.
- Explain common coding issues for each subspecialty and how they should be reported and resolved.
- Discuss the 2023 changes to the E/M codes and guidelines.
- Summarize the necessary documentation and regulations relevant to critical care and cardiothoracic surgery E/M services for 2023.
Questions?
- Registration and Pricing: Meetings Department
- Program: Education Department
Accreditation Statement
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons designates this live activity for a maximum of 23.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. Physician Assistants (PAs) may claim AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ for completing this activity.
Continuing Education Credits
This program has the prior approval of AAPC for 23.5 continuing education hours. Granting of prior approval in no way constitutes endorsement by AAPC of the program content or the program sponsor.
This program has been approved for 23.5 continuing education units (CEUs) for use in fulfilling the continuing education requirements of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). Granting of Approved CEUs from AHIMA does not constitute endorsement of the program content or its program provider.