Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

Include all manifestation codes to help support treatment. Your neurologist may be seeing an influx of patients with diabetic neuropathy, so you'll need to know these crucial diagnosis and treatment tips to accurately report care for this common condition. Trend: Approximately half of the 25.8 million diabetes patients in the U.S. have diabetic neuropathy, a painful nerve disorder. Patients might be referred from their endocrinologist to either a neurologist or pain management specialist for care. Narrow Your Diagnosis Choices Patients often have multiple diagnoses and treatments related to their diabetes that your provider must consider during treatment -- and that you should consider during coding. "The one problem I have is that the doctors don't specify in the medical record the type of diabetes the patient has and if it is controlled or uncontrolled," says Vonda Pickelsimer of Neurology Associates of Greenville, S.C. "I also notice that the medical record [...]