ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Question: A driver who was in a motor vehicle collision (MVC) arrives at the ED via ambulance with blunt trauma to his chest and abdomen from the seat belt and airbag; the patient is complaining of pain in his chest and severe abdominal pain due to the contusions. The physician performs a comprehensive history and examination and high complexity medical decision making. She then performs a focused assessment with sonography in trauma (FAST) exam and an electrocardiogram (ECG). Final diagnosis is "Contusions, chest/trunk." All of these services occurred on the same calendar date. What is the proper coding for this scenario?Montana SubscriberAnswer: To keep this from getting too confusing, we'll list the procedure codes for this claim, and then list the ICD-9 codes separately. For this claim, you'll want to report the following CPT® codes:93308 (Echocardiography, transthoracic, real-time with image documentation [2D] includes M-mode recording, when performed, follow-up or limited [...]