Ob-Gyn Coding Alert

You can report a higher-level E/M in this annual-visit situation. Annual visits often lead to confusion when it comes to establishing a patient's pregnancy. Take this three-part challenge by deciding if the ob-gyn package begins based on these scenarios: • a patient's annual visit leads to a diagnosis of her pregnancy, • she arrives knowing that she is pregnant, or • the ob-gyn eliminates other possible diagnoses. Hint: In the majority of circumstances, you should not begin counting antepartum visits for the global maternity codes (59400, 59510, 59610, 59618) until the next full visit, coding experts say. Still Report Annual When Visit Leads to Pregnancy Dx Scenario 1: If the ob-gyn diagnoses pregnancy (V72.42, Pregnancy examination or test, positive result) during a patient's annual exam (99384-99386 for new patients, or 99394-99396 for established patients), you can still report the annual examination, as long as you link the pregnancy diagnosis to [...]