VATS is an abbreviation for “video assisted thoracic surgery.” VATS is a minimally invasive surgical technique used to diagnose and treat problems in organs within the thorax such as the lungs and pleura. During VATS, a tiny camera (thoracoscope) and surgical instruments are inserted into the chest through small incisions or ports in the chest wall.
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There are now codes to describe hypertensive crisis in ICD-10-CM category I16, Hypertensive Crisis. Coders are now able to differentiate coding of hypertensive urgency (I16.0), hypertensive emergency (I16.1), and hypertensive crisis, unspecified (I16.9).
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Could you please clarify the terms “uncertain diagnoses” and “at the time of discharge” in Inpatient Coding? Uncertain diagnoses are those that at the time of discharge are still being documented as “probable,” “suspected,” “likely,” “questionable,” “possible,” “still to be ruled out,” or other similar terminology.
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