ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Question: What is the difference between an ECG and an EKG?

Codify Subscriber

Answer: There aren’t any differences, other than the fact that different providers document this service differently. ECG and EKG are actually two abbreviations for the same procedure — an electrocardiogram. An electrocardiogram is the recording of electrical activities of the heart and their interpretation by a physician.

During this service, electrical activities of the heart are recorded in specific regions via electrodes placed on the patient’s body, and these recordings are reproduced in a graphic format. Interpretation of these graphs helps to correctly diagnose heart disorders and conditions. These graphs help the physicians diagnose a real-time emergency, such as acute myocardial infarction, but they can also help detect patterns that emerge over time such as sinus bradycardia or even mitral valve prolapse.