Oncology & Hematology Coding Alert

Initial and subsequent observation codes look a little more alike in 2012.Have you ever wished that CPT® would put a time guide on its observation codes? Then you're in luck as of Jan. 1, 2012, because the new manual offers specific typical times that relate to each of the initial observation care codes. Observation Time Guidelines Could Open DoorsWhen CPT® 2011 debuted 99224-99226 (Subsequent observation care, per day, for the evaluation and management of a patient ...), many coders were left scratching their heads at the fact that those new codes featured typical times associated with them for professional fee claims, even though initial observation care codes 99218-99220 don't have typical times. CPT® 2012 remedies that problem with the addition of the following typical time guidelines:99218, ... Physicians typically spend 30 minutes at the bedside and on the patient's hospital floor or unit 99219, ... Physicians typically spend 50 minutes [...]