ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Question: A patient is brought to the ED via ambulance after standing too close to a Roman candle during an amateur fireworks show at a Super Bowl party. He is wheezing, complaining of chest pain, and has burns to his upper right arm. After a level-four E/M service that included chest x-rays and breathing tests, the physician diagnoses first and second-degree burns to the upper right arm. The physician performs debridement of the burns, which total 6 percent of total body surface area (TBSA); there is no mention of thirddegree burn. How should I code this scenario? Florida Subscriber Answer: You'll only report a single ICD-9 code for the burn; and be sure to line up the diagnosis codes with the proper services. On the claim, report the following: • 16025 (Dressings and/or debridement of partial-thickness burns, initial or subsequent; medium [e.g., whole face or whole extremity, or 5% to [...]