Advanced Search

Ob-Gyn Coding Alert

You Be the Coder:

Unrelated Complaint

Published on Sat Jun 01, 2002

Test your coding knowledge. Determine how you would code this situation before looking at the box below for the answer.
Question: A patient reported with sharp chest pains and irregular menses. She had a positive pregnancy test, but at that visit no other work was done related to the pregnancy, and she will see a midwife for the pregnancy. Should I code the pregnancy as one of the diagnoses?

Michigan Subscriber
  Answer: There would be no reason to mention that the patient had a positive pregnancy test because that was not the reason she came to the office, you are not treating her for the pregnancy, and she has not yet started pregnancy care. You should code the chest pains (786.5x, Chest pain) and irregular menses (626.4, Irregular menstrual cycle). The V22 series of codes is for supervision of normal pregnancy, and because you are not performing this service, there is nothing to code. The irregular menses would be a sufficient diagnosis to get a pregnancy test covered by most payers.
You’ve reached your limit of free articles. Already a subscriber? Log in.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe today to continue reading this article. Plus, you’ll get:
  • Simple explanations of current healthcare regulations and payer programs
  • Real-world reporting scenarios solved by our expert coders
  • Industry news, such as MAC and RAC activities, the OIG Work Plan, and CERT reports
  • Instant access to every article ever published in your eNewsletter
  • 6 annual AAPC-approved CEUs*
  • The latest updates for CPT®, ICD-10-CM, HCPCS Level II, NCCI edits, modifiers, compliance, technology, practice management, and more
*CEUs available with select eNewsletters.

Other Articles in this issue of

Ob-Gyn Coding Alert

View All