Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) Systems: Leveraging Everyday Tech to Enhance Diabetes Management

March 16th, 2022 - Susan Gatehouse, RHIT, CCS,CPC, AHIMA-Approved ICD-10-CM/PCS Trainer
Categories:   Audits/Auditing  

However, is the coding for the treatment and management of diabetes being adequately captured?

Diabetes mellitus (DM) affects over 400 million people worldwide. It is a chronic disease of inadequate control of blood levels of glucose that affects the body’s ability to turn food into energy.

Essentially, the food you eat is broken down into sugar (glucose) and released into the blood to be used as the body’s primary energy source. This increase in blood sugar causes the pancreas to release insulin, a hormone that acts like a key to enable the glucose to enter the body’s cells so it can be leveraged.

Lack of insulin or the inability of glucose to enter cells causes sugar to build up in the blood, which, over time, can lead to complications.

Diabetes has many subclassifications, but the two main types of DM are type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes (previously called insulin-dependent or juvenile diabetes) is typically diagnosed in children or younger adults, though it can develop at any age. With type 2 diabetes, patients’ problems begin when the cells in their body start to not respond to insulin as well as they should. This is called insulin resistance, which causes high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia). This is the most common type of diabetes.

As noted, people with diabetes have trouble regulating glucose. Regularly checking blood glucose levels is important. Maintaining those levels within a target range helps improve energy and mood while preventing or delaying severe health complications.

Patients with diabetes have to undergo fingers pricked with lancets to test blood sugar several times a day. These needle pricks can be painful, often resulting in less frequent testing. Out-of-control blood sugars can occur with less testing, resulting in increased hospital admissions and decreased health outcomes.

A continuous glucose monitoring system (CGM) is a compact medical system that continuously monitors blood sugar levels, essentially in real time. CGM systems enable patients with diabetes to manage their condition better. There have been tremendous technological advances made in glucose monitoring systems, representing perhaps the most significant progress made in controlling diabetes since insulin was discovered!

...

Read the entire article at ICD10monitor by clicking here.

This article originally published on March 7, 2022 by ICD10monitor.

###

Questions, comments?

If you have questions or comments about this article please contact us.  Comments that provide additional related information may be added here by our Editors.


Latest articles:  (any category)

Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare - A Medical Coder's Perspective
December 26th, 2023 - Aimee Wilcox
We constantly hear how AI is creeping into every aspect of healthcare but what does that mean for medical coders and how can we better understand the language used in the codeset? Will AI take my place or will I learn with it and become an integral part of the process that uses AI to enhance my abilities? 
Specialization: Your Advantage as a Medical Coding Contractor
December 22nd, 2023 - Find-A-Code
Medical coding contractors offer a valuable service to healthcare providers who would rather outsource coding and billing rather than handling things in-house. Some contractors are better than others, but there is one thing they all have in common: the need to present some sort of value proposition in order to land new clients. As a contractor, your value proposition is the advantage you offer. And that advantage is specialization.
ICD-10-CM Coding of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
December 19th, 2023 - Aimee Wilcox
Chronic respiratory disease is on the top 10 chronic disease list published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Although it is a chronic condition, it may be stable for some time and then suddenly become exacerbated and even impacted by another acute respiratory illness, such as bronchitis, RSV, or COVID-19. Understanding the nuances associated with the condition and how to properly assign ICD-10-CM codes is beneficial.
Changes to COVID-19 Vaccines Strike Again
December 12th, 2023 - Aimee Wilcox
According to the FDA, CDC, and other alphabet soup entities, the old COVID-19 vaccines are no longer able to treat the variants experienced today so new vaccines have been given the emergency use authorization to take the place of the old vaccines. No sooner was the updated 2024 CPT codebook published when 50 of the codes in it were deleted, some of which were being newly added for 2024.
Updated ICD-10-CM Codes for Appendicitis
November 14th, 2023 - Aimee Wilcox
With approximately 250,000 cases of acute appendicitis diagnosed annually in the United States, coding updates were made to ensure high-specificity coding could be achieved when reporting these diagnoses. While appendicitis almost equally affects both men and women, the type of appendicitis varies, as dose the risk of infection, sepsis, and perforation.
COVID Vaccine Coding Changes as of November 1, 2023
October 26th, 2023 - Wyn Staheli
COVID vaccine changes due to the end of the PHE as of November 1, 2023 are addressed in this article.
Medicare Guidance Changes for E/M Services
October 11th, 2023 - Wyn Staheli
2023 brought quite a few changes to Evaluation and management (E/M) services. The significant revisions as noted in the CPT codebook were welcome changes to bring other E/M services more in line with the changes that took place with Office or Other Outpatient Services a few years ago. As part of CMS’ Medicare Learning Network, the “Evaluation and Management Services Guide” publication was finally updated as of August 2023 to include the changes that took place in 2023. If you take a look at the new publication (see references below),....



Home About Terms Privacy

innoviHealth® - 62 E 300 North, Spanish Fork, UT 84660 - Phone 801-770-4203 (9-5 Mountain)

Copyright © 2000-2024 innoviHealth Systems®, Inc. - CPT® copyright American Medical Association