What do you do if your pain management specialist treats a chronic pain patient but can’t uncover a definitive diagnosis? Using a non-specific diagnosis code may mean you don’t get paid or are paid incorrectly. An article in Anesthesia & Pain Management Coding Alert may be just what the doctor ordered. Learn how to select the most specific diagnosis appropriate for the patient and make sure it’s well-documented in the medical record as you read the article “Keep Chronic Pain Denial at Bay With Surefire Dx Tips” — compliments of The Coding Institute.
February 27th, 2009
New CPT® codes that go into effect Jan. 1, 2009 will allow your lab to code more accurately for advancing diagnostic tests, according to the Coding Institute’s Pathology/Lab Coding Alert (Vol. 9, No. 11).
Let’s say, for example, that a patient presents with chest pain but shows a normal EKG and tropinin-negative test results. The physician orders serum myloperoxidase (MPO). You would have to settle for a generic code, such as 83516 Immunoassay for analyte other than infectious agent antibody or infectious agent antogen, qualitative or semiquantitative; multiple step method to describe the test. In 2009, however, you’ll code this sort of test with total clarity using CPT® code 83876 Myeloperoxidase [MPO]. (more…)
December 2nd, 2008
Getting paid for unlisted procedure codes can be tricky, especially if a procedure is experimental or investigational.
“It’s not unheard of to get paid for unlisted procedures, but it’s not always easy,” says Joanne Mehmert, CPC, CCS-P, in Kansas City, Mo. “The insurance company has its own definition of medical necessity.” (more…)
Working with physicians to specify what constitutes as an emergency, and correctly coding emergency room visits with +99140 Anesthesia complicated by emergency conditions (specify) (List separately in addition to code for primary anesthesia procedure) is enough to frazzle any coder’s nerves.
Anesthesia & Pain Management Coding Alert (Vol. 10, No. 10) takes a closer look at 99140, and clarifies how you should (or shouldn’t) use it with qualifying circumstances (QC).