# New patient visit with procedure



## Allderm4045 (Feb 23, 2017)

When a patient is new to the office and our Physician performs a skin check and during that visit it is determined that a biopsy or destruction should be done; EMA continually drops the office visit code.  It is my understanding that because the patient is new to our office we can still bill for the visit and the procedure.  Does anyone know why the EHR drops these codes or if we truly shouldn't bill for a new patient office visit and just bill the procedure?


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## ellzeycoding (Mar 17, 2017)

Any surgical procedure with 0 or 10 postop days INCLUDES the E/M visit.  This is true for both new and establishd patients.  An E/M can only be billed if it is separate and identifiable (i.e., unrelated to or above and beyond) any E/M related to the procedure.  Only then can an E/M be billed, and you have to discount any E/M related to the procedure when determining your level of care.

This went into effect in 2013 with the National Correct Coding Initiative.

See this article...
https://www.ellzeycodingsolutions.com/kb_results.asp?ID=2


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