# coding extended OV with a wellness exam



## raynas613 (Oct 2, 2013)

are you allowed to code an extended OV with a NP wellness exam?


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## mitchellde (Oct 2, 2013)

For what reason?  If the patient is so ill as to need an ov with prolonged time then they are obviously to ill to have a well exam.


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## OCD_coder (Oct 3, 2013)

My physicians/provider have asked about the prolonged visit codes because they do so much counseling.  The answer is No, because the preventative CPT codes do not have typical times associated with them, per the TIME guidelines at the beginning of the E&M section of the CPT book the use of prolonged visit codes 99354 - 99355 would not apply as they are very specifically time based codes only.

The parenthetical information below the prolonged services codes do not list the preventative codes as "Use with" options.

If there is a seperate problem that required additional workup beyond what was performed at the wellness visit, per the CPT in the preventative guidelines, a separate E&M may be something to look at.


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## MarcusM (Oct 4, 2013)

Check out the October 2013 AAPC Cutting Edge article on page 28 for Split Billing as it has excellent information on this question...in fact it is written by Debra A Mitchell who posted above.  Keep up the excellent posts and articles...it really helps...thanks


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