Anesthesia Coding Alert

This summary can put you closer to reaching your renewal requirement

If you're a Certified Professional Coder (CPC) through the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC), you know that each year you have to continue enhancing your coding knowledge by obtaining continuing education units (CEUs).

Problem: With the demands of a job in medical coding, gathering those CEUs isn't always an easy task. Attending seminars, audio conferences and live conferences are great ways to earn CEUs, but aren't always practical due to time and budget constraints.

Good news: You can use Anesthesia & Pain Management Coding Alert to quickly and easily earn your CEU credits.

"Using the Coding Alert articles is a great source for getting CEUs," says Wendy Willes, head of the AAPC's CEUs/Member Services department. "It encourages coders to read the articles that are so informative to their careers and specialty. If they are subscribing to the Coding Alert, they will not only get information pertaining to their career, but will also be able to obtain CEUs at the same time."

How it works: Look for key words such as "example," "scenario" and "op report," says Erin Lang Bonin, PhD, CPC, editorial director at Eli Research. "I look for those sorts of words and often find ready-made scenarios I can use to earn my CEUs," she adds.

Then simply add these bullets or scenarios to your reference guide and submit them to the AAPC for one ready-to-go CEU credit (per scenario).

Example Summary: Newsletter -- Anesthesia & Pain Management Coding Alert

You can help report cases correctly and ensure your anesthesiologist gets appropriate reimbursement when you append modifier 23 (Unusual anesthesia) to any non-OR procedure your anesthesiologist documents correctly -- when it's appropriate. Many procedures that qualify for modifier 23 don't normally require anesthesia, which means your physician should document medical necessity. 

If the other physician requests anesthesia for the procedure (such as an MRI), be sure your provider documents why the patient needed anesthesia. Underlying conditions that help justify anesthesia include Parkinson's disease (332.x), mental retardation (317-319), claustrophobia (300.29, Other isolated or specific phobias) and cerebral palsy (343.x, Infantile cerebral palsy; or 437.8, Other and ill-defined cerebrovascular disease; other).

The patient's age can also help justify anesthesia during the procedure, such as when a young child undergoes a lumbar puncture.