# Z00.00 rule



## williafm (Sep 14, 2016)

Does icd 10 really restrict same day sick and well visits? After reading the article in the july issue of the aapc magazine , me and my fellow coder agreed with what is stated however, our corporate office doesnt agree with the article and states there are no changes needed by our providers in how they code these . Why is there nothing anywhere else about this? The article is well written and does explain why very clearly . Just cant find any references to this anywhere else

 confused in virginia 

 thanks


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## danskangel313 (Sep 16, 2016)

williafm said:


> Does icd 10 really restrict same day sick and well visits? After reading the article in the july issue of the aapc magazine , me and my fellow coder agreed with what is stated however, our corporate office doesnt agree with the article and states there are no changes needed by our providers in how they code these . Why is there nothing anywhere else about this? The article is well written and does explain why very clearly . Just cant find any references to this anywhere else
> 
> confused in virginia
> 
> thanks



Z00.00 is for Encounter for general adult medical examination without abnormal findings; Encounter for adult health check-up *NOS*
There is an Excludes1 note that states: "encounter for examination of sign or symptom- code to sign or symptom; general health check-up of infant or child"
Because of the Excludes1 note, you can't also bill for an encounter due to a complaint as they would never be billed together, which makes sense because the description of Z00.00 states "without abnormal findings". A patient can't present with no abnormal findings and have a sick visit on the same day because that would mean the patient did AND did not have abnormal findings or issues - you can't have both.

The guidelines state that if there ARE abnormal findings, you have to instead code Z00.01 plus additional codes identifying the abnormal findings. Look under 1.C.21.c.13.

This information combined should be documentation enough to prove your point. You can't argue with the guidelines


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