# ICD-9 for Pre-ECT Medical Evaluation



## marhiam (Aug 5, 2011)

Hello,

I work for a Hospitalist office, and we saw a patient in an inpatient psychiatric setting as a medical clearance for ECT therapy.  We received a denial because our service cannot bill for psychiatric ICD-9s.  Is there any code I can use to try to get this paid?  The only thing I can find is a v-code and we can't use that as a primary code.

Thanks!!


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## terribrown (Aug 8, 2011)

I would definitely use V72.84, Pre-operative (includes pre-procedural) examination. In section IV.N of our guidelines, we are told we can sequence the Vcode first, then use additional codes to describe condition for the reason (depression??) for surgery (in this case procedure) and other related conditions.


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