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Neurosurgery Coding Alert

Coding Strategies:

Are You Leaving Behind Payment For Laceration Repairs?

Published on Mon Dec 24, 2012

Key: Check laceration size and report the office visit. When your surgeon evaluates and treats a head-injured patient as an emergency case in the office, you’ll be forfeiting deserved payment if you report the service and miss the evaluation. Example: You many read that a 5-year-old child who had a head injury while playing in the school ground was brought to the surgeon’s office and seen on an emergency basis. Your surgeon does a physical examination and focuses on a detailed neurological examination to look for focal findings from the head injury. Your surgeon documents a laceration in the scalp and provides superficial suturing for the laceration. Here’s what to do: 1. Confirm Laceration Size Check the clinical note to confirm the size of the laceration. CPT® lists codes for laceration repair of head and scalp, depending on size of the laceration. Depending upon the size of the superficial wound, [...]
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