|
|
|
Demand Grows
for Alternative Link’s ABC Coding Manual for Integrative Healthcare
Coding Manual Supports Use of
Alternative Medicine and Integrative Healthcare in Cash Pay Practices and
Consumer-Driven Health Plans
ALBUQUERQUE, NM. May 24, 2004 –
Alternative Link, the developer of ABC codes for complementary and alternative
medicine (CAM), nursing and other integrative healthcare practices, reports
increasing demand for its 2004 ABC Coding Manual for Integrative Healthcare,
reflecting the growing movement toward consumer-driven healthcare and the
continuing need to control costs.
“We are pleased with the level of
interest in our sixth edition,” said Synthia Molina, Chief Executive Officer of
Alternative Link. “This is the most comprehensive manual we’ve had, and the
market is more savvy than ever about the need to support consumer choice,
document all patient encounters and better manage the quality and cost of
care.”
“This manual supports a broad range of
alternative therapies and opens a whole new world of choice for consumers and
practitioners,” said Kevin Kunz, a licensed healthcare professional and
co-author of three integrative healthcare textbooks.
The 500-page coding manual provides
numerous examples of how healthcare organizations, employers, payers, and
practitioners can use either the entire code set or just those codes that
relate to their particular businesses. Users will find more than 4,000 ABC
codes in standard 5-character format, corresponding intervention descriptions
and ample instructions. The manual also provides expanded definitions that
precisely characterize the delivered care and the required qualifications of
caregivers.
Among the supported caregivers are
advanced nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, Christian Science
practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, doctors of chiropractic, doctors of
homeopathy, doctors of naturopathy, doctors of oriental medicine, doctors of
osteopathy, holistic dentists, holistic medical doctors, licensed vocational
nurses, massage therapists, mental health professionals, minority health
specialists, occupational therapists, pharmacists, physical therapists,
physician assistants, reflexologists, registered dieticians, registered nurses,
registered midwives and others. Some of the key features in the 2004 coding
manual include:
• ABC codes that represent nearly
2,000 healthcare services and more than 2,000 healthcare products and supplies,
including nutraceuticals and homeopathic preparations.
• Comprehensive intervention indices
that support easy identification of relevant codes.
• Tables that map professional
certifications and specialties to 2-character “practitioner identifiers” that
can be used as code modifiers.
• Maps or “crosswalks” to nursing
terminologies in the Nursing Intervention Classification, the Omaha System
Intervention Scheme, and the Home Health Care Classification System.
The ABC Coding Manual for Integrative
Healthcare is available in a print version and as an interactive PDF on CD-ROM.
It may be purchased at www.AlternativeLink.com and is supported by a suite of
products designed to support healthcare research, management and commerce. The
suite includes patient encounter forms and superbills, more than 600 legal
practice guides for targeted practitioners in all 50 states and the District of
Columbia, a reference book of relative values for integrative healthcare, ASCII
files of ABC codes and terminology, industry reports on CAM, and databases that
contain the codes, descriptions, expanded definitions, practitioner
identifiers/modifiers, relative values and legal practice guidelines.
Alternative Link, the developer of ABC
codes, delivers information products and consulting services that help
health-promoting organizations and individuals finance, administer and deliver
cost-effective care that improves individual and public health, business and
industry efficiencies and socioeconomic development.
|
