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ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

You Be the Coder:

Wound Repair Qualifies for Subsequent Hospital Care

Published on Tue Sep 20, 2011

Question: An emergency physician is called to the inpatient setting by a floor nurse to care for an 84-year-old woman who was found on the floor near her bed. She suffered a 1.5 cm cut above her right eye. After a problem focused H&P, he determines the fall was simply caused by her getting tripped up by the sheets in the bed rail as she was going to the bathroom. The patient appears flustered and embarrassed but does not appear to have any confusion or focal neurological problems. The physician examines her arm and wrist and determines it is not broken, but the cut requires a few sutures. He closes the wound with a simple repair and documents his services before returning to the ED. The entire encounter took about 20 minutes. How would you report this service?Answer: On the claim, you would report:99231 (Subsequent hospital care, per day, for [...]
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