Ob-Gyn Coding Alert

Question: My ob-gyn is seeing a patient pregnant by her cousin and is at risk for genetic birth defects.

Unless tests prove the fetus has an abnormal feature or the ob-gyn suspects an abnormality, should I use the regular V22 code?

Kentucky Subscriber

Answer: If the patient undergoes tests and the fetus is found to be normal, you will use V89.03 (Suspected fetal anomaly not found) for the test results and then switch to V22.0 (Supervision of normal first pregnancy) or V22.1 (Supervision of other

normal pregnancy).

But prior to that time, this situation does increase the risk of genetic disorders in the fetus. Until they are ruled out, you should use V23.89 (Other high-risk pregnancy).