Case History
The 26-year-old mother was healthy throughout the term of the pregnancy and went into labor at 40-weeks' gestation. The pregnancy was complicated just prior to delivery with a possible abruption. There was significant bradycardia with the heart rate of the patient down to 40 beats per minute prior to delivery. This required a stat cesarean section.
Topic(s): Hearing Loss, High Frequency, Balance/Vestibular, Patient care
Understanding the correct use of the Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN) Form CMS-R-131 is important to ensure billing compliance for traditional Medicare (Part B). Audiologists may face challenges determining when Medicare covers a service and when an ABN is required. Federal law requires that providers, including audiologists, must notify a Medicare beneficiary in advance when a service that Medicare typically covers is likely to be denied and/or when the item or service is not considered by Medicare to be medically reasonable and necessary. The ABN meets this requirement.
Topic(s): Medicare, Coding, Reimbursement, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Balance/Vestibular
Dizziness is a common complaint, with approximately 35 percent of adults reporting dizziness, with the prevalence increasing dramatically with age (Agrawal, 2009). As the profession of audiology has evolved, so has our understanding of the various disorders that cause imbalance and dizziness. This article will walk you through the case of Sunny Susan (patient’s name changed to protect identity), a woman who I first saw as a balance patient after she had spent over 22 years struggling with recurrent dizziness and progressive hearing loss.
Topic(s): Dizziness, Balance/Vestibular, Meniere’s Disease (MD), conductive-mixed hearing loss, Hearing Loss, Tinnitus, Patient care
