Internal Medicine Coding Alert
Body Mass Index
Question: Is there a CPT code for a Body Mass Index?
Answer: There is no specific code in the CPT for calculating body mass index, notes Fitzgerald. However, you might be able to use 99199 (unlisted special service or report). Most insurance companies would want you to provide more information though before they paid you on this code. Thus, if you decide to bill 99199, be proactive and send a note describing the service.
Is the body mass index taken in conjunction with an office or hospital visit? If the insurance company wont allow any of the unlisted procedure codes, certainly the service could be billed as part of an evaluation and management (E/M) code. Depending on the patient, taking a body mass index may require considerably more effort in obtaining a comprehensive history and doing a multi-system exam, as well as require complex decision-making. Thus, a higher level of E/M code may be appropriate. Since taking a body mass index is not a common evaluation service, consider adding the modifier -22 (unusual procedural services) to the E/M code also.
Internal Medicine Coding Alert
- Correct Coding for Consults and Referrals:
Dont Confuse a Request for an Opinion with a Transfer of Care
Internists are most often their patients primary care physicians, overseeing and coordinating all of their [...] - Update on Billing for Preoperative Clearence Exams
In the November 1998 issue of Internal Medicine Coding Alert, we covered using consult codes [...] - Remember G0101 and Q0091 to Get Paid for Gynecologic Screeings for Medicare Patients
With the passage of the Balanced Budget Amendment in 1997, Medicare began covering more preventive [...] - Reminder:
Medicare Requires Claims to be Submitted With Eight-Digit Date Format by April
The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) recently mailed a letter from Administrator Nancy Ann Min-DeParle [...] - Reader Question:
Body Mass Index
Question: Is there a CPT code for a Body Mass Index?
Answer: There is no specific [...] - Reader Questions:
Coding for Travel Advice
Question: How would you code for overseas travel advice, especially infectious disease prevention and general [...]
