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Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

Recognize Sepsis/UTI Neuro Interplay to Capture Consult Pay

Published on Thu May 28, 2009

Code neurological issues to avoid duplicating primary physicians diagnoses. Your neurologist doesnt treat septicemia and urinary tract infections as primary conditions, but these conditions still affect your neurology coding. Study how these conditions relate to neurological conditions to get the right consult/diagnoses combo on your next nonstandard claim. Look for a Neuro-Septicemia Connection Urinary and sepsis issues may appear unrelated to the neurological conditions your practice is used to coding. However, a UTI can in fact lead to neurological problems in elderly patients. A UTI means there are microorganisms, such as bacteria or fungus, in the patients urine, says Eugene C. Lai, MD, PhD, professor in the department of neurology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. When cultures grow out infectious agents which have spread through the body via the bloodstream, a physician might diagnose septicemia (038.9, Unspecified septicemia), bacteremia (790.7), or urosepsis (599.0, Urinary tract infection, site not [...]
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