Do you need anatomy? - sm

For MT, "recognition" knowledge of med terms and anatomy is required.  It isn't usually necessary to DO anything with that knowledge.  In other words, the MT doesn't have to make decisions based on the knowledge.  

Coding requires that you use the knowledge.  Here are some situations that come up for coders in general.  Can you answer these without looking anything up?

A particular colonoscopy code can only be used if the scope reaches a point proximal to the splenic flexure.  If the procedure is terminated in the mid-ascending colon, could you use that code?  How about if it proceeds the full extent of the descending and is then terminated due to poor prep? 

Do not code symptoms and signs that are characteristic of a diagnosis.  For instance, if a patient complaining of sore throat, rhinorrhea, and fever is diagnosed with a cold, only the cold is coded.  Patient X, who is febrile and has hypotension, tachycardia, chest pain, oliguria, and Serratia on urine culture, is diagnosed with a UTI and sepsis.  Which of Patient X's signs/symptoms are characteristic of this diagnosis and thus would not be coded? 

Two years ago, a patient had a saphenous bypass graft.  On cardiac catheterization yesterday, this graft was found to be atherosclerotic.  Is this a native coronary artery, an autologous vein bypass graft, a nonautologous biological bypass graft, or something not listed here? 

In a patient with hypertension, chronic renal failure is assumed to be caused by the hypertension.  Should you assume the same for renal insufficiency?  How about acute renal failure? 

Draw the internal anatomy of the knee joint.

What is the difference between an autograft, an allograft, and a xenograft?   Which one is a homograft?  Which is a heterograft? 

On physical exam, a patient has "no JVD."  Which body system does that go with? 

A elderly patient is admitted with pneumonia.  His physical exam mentions lethargy and poor skin turgor.    To what additional diagnosis would that point?   What else would support it?   

When ICD-10 comes along,  you'll need more anatomy to code procedures.  Is the subscapularis part of the back or the shoulder?  How about the superior ulnar collateral artery?  Is that associated with brachial or the axillary artery?  What is the name of the 12th cranial nerve?