Orthopedic Coding Alert

Question:When our physicians discharge patients from the hospital, is 99238 the only code we should report for all the services that day?Idaho SubscriberAnswer:Yes, a hospital discharge code is the only E/M code you should report for your physician's services on the day of discharge. If the orthopedist happens to perform some other procedure or service before discharging the patient, you can report the appropriate code(s) for that service separately.Some coders automatically report 99238 (Hospital discharge day management; 30 minutes or less) when they see a discharge in the physician's documentation, but 99239 (... more than 30 minutes) may often be more appropriate - and 99239 pays more, so it can help you stay compliant and optimize your reimbursement. Hospital discharge codes allow you to report the total duration of time the physician spends preparing the patient's discharge. But what some coders don't know is that the time that the physician [...]