Internal Medicine Coding Alert
Reader Question:
Maintain Your ABN for U/A Screening Tests
Published on Tue Jun 14, 2011
Question:
Indiana Subscriber
Answer:
Medicare does not cover a screening urinalysis. Medicare coverage of a urinalysis depends upon the patient having a symptom supporting medical necessity (such as burning during urination). If you routinely perform a screening urinalysis in conjunction with your initial preventive physical exam (i.e., Welcome to Medicare visit) or annual preventive screenings, ask the patient to sign at Advance Beneficiary Notice (ABN) beforehand to cover the screening, which is a separately reportable service.When treating non-Medicare patients, check the payer's policy before seeing the patient. You might need to ask the patient to sign an ABN-type acknowledgement to receive payment. Again, from a coding perspective, a screening urinalysis is not considered part of a preventive medicine visit service (codes 99381-99397) and should be reported separately, if performed.
Other Articles in this issue of
Internal Medicine Coding Alert
- Case Study:
Affected Systems Tell When to Code Anaphylaxis Vs Allergic Reaction
Tip: Count the number of body systems involved to make the right choice.Summertime is here, [...] - Knee Injections:
When Coding Trigger Points, Count Muscles, Instead of Injections
Here's your guide to success with TPI versus other knee injections.All knee injections -- and coding [...] - E/M:
Refrain Getting Caught in These 3 Common Evaluation& Management Traps
Incident to, critical care must meet certain criteria.As a coder, you're accustomed to reporting office/outpatient [...] - ICD-10:
Make Ready for Extra Code Reporting for Foreign Body Removal
Once ICD-10 goes into effect, check the type of retained body.Choosing your primary diagnosis code [...] - You Be the Coder:
Picking Correct ICD-9 Code for Multiple Burns
Question: An established patient reports to our physician with firstand second-degree burns to his abdominal [...] - Reader Question:
See Beyond Obesity for Primary Diagnosis
Question: Some of our insurers refuse to pay for obesity as a primary or secondary [...] - Reader Question:
Select Between Codes 782.9 and 705.89 for Body Odor
Question: A mother brought her 6-year-old daughter to our office because she was concerned about [...] - Reader Question:
Maintain Your ABN for U/A Screening Tests
Question: Is a urinalysis (screening) included in or bundled with a patient's initial preventive physical [...] - Reader Question:
Coding Procedure for Simple Repair with Dermabond
Question: An established patient visited our office because of severe hyperkeratosis affecting both feet. The [...] - Reader Question:
Disregard Preventive Exam Codes for Skin Cancer Screening
Question: My physician saw a patient for a skin cancer screening. Should I use the [...] - Reader Question:
Obtain Specific Diagnosis Before Coding Tissue Infection
Question: Our physician treated a soft-tissue infection on a patient's finger. Which diagnosis code should [...] - Reader Question:
Payer Tactics Outweigh Coding Guidelines
Question: Our Medicaid carrier refuses to accept the new vaccination codes, but we know it's [...]
View All
