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ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Reader Questions:

Choose Most Severe Burn for ICD-9 Coding

Published on Thu May 19, 2011

Question: A patient reports to the ED with first- and second-degree burns to his abdominal wall from a steam burn. During an ED E/M service, the nonphysician practitioner (NPP) uses gauze and topical ointment to treat the patient's burn. Notes indicate that the anterior trunk is "18% burned." How many diagnosis codes should I include on the claim?Georgia SubscriberAnswer: You'll report two diagnosis codes; one for the burn and one for the total body surface area (TBSA) burned. On your claim, report the following:The appropriate level ED E/M code (99281-99285, Emergency department visit for the evaluation and management of a patient, which requires these 3 key  components: ...) based on the notes942.23 (Burn of trunk; blisters, epidermal loss [second degree]; abdominal wall) appended to the E/M code to represent the burn948.10 (Burns classified according to extend of body surface involved; 10-19 percent of body surface; less than 10 percent or [...]
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