Advanced Search

Pediatric Coding Alert

Year in Review:
Look Back to Move Forward: 4 Stories From 2020 to Watch in 2021
Hint: Keep your eyes on the 2021 PFS. Preparing for major changes to office or outpatient... Read more
Procedure Coding:
Use This Guide for Flawless Flu Coding
And clip-and-save this handy chart to code current vaccines. In October, the Centers for ... Read more
Guidelines:
Want to Code Well, Sick Visits Together? This FAQ Will Help
Ask, “is the problem significant or trivial?” Preventive visits that uncover a seriou... Read more
You Be the Coder:
Pay Attention to External Cause Guidelines in This Reduction Encounter
Question: One of our pediatricians recently performed a reduction of a traumatic fracture ... Read more
Reader Questions:
Establish These Rules for New Patient Encounters
Question: Can we bill 99201-99205 for a patient who comes in to establish care with our p... Read more
Reader Questions:
Test Your Understanding of the 2021 MDM Guidelines
Question: The 2021 office and outpatient evaluation and management (E/M) guidelines for me... Read more
Reader Questions:
Resolve Double Dx Dilemmas With This Excludes1 Guidance
Question: In the You Be the Coder article “Don't Exclude This Advice from Your Dx Coding... Read more
Guidelines:
Got Inpatient Care Questions? Here’s All You Need to Know.
Don't forget to keep your eyes on the clock. With all the attention being paid to the cha... Read more
Coding Quiz:
Prove You’re an FBR Expert With This Coding Quiz
Do you know the difference between simple and complicated? Coding foreign body removals (... Read more
Coding Quiz Answers:
Check Your Answers to Our FBR Coding Quiz
Time to find out the depth of your foreign body removal knowledge. Once you've answered t... Read more
Condition Spotlight:
Take These Tips, Keep Your Tonsillitis Coding on Track
Remember: Acute and chronic conditions aren't subject to timeframes. A child presenting w... Read more
You Be the Coder:
Get Up to Speed With This New PHE PPE Code
Question: What do you know about the new CPT® code for reporting additional practice expe... Read more
Reader Questions:
Prevent This Modifier 59 Mistake
Question: Our pediatrician performed a well visit along with an ocular vision screen on a ... Read more
Reader Questions:
Specify Test, Sign or Symptom When Dx Is Not Definitive
Question: If we have a patient that comes to our practice for a lab draw, and the pat... Read more
Reader Questions:
Manage This Medication Code Conundrum
Question: Which ICD-10 code should I use for medication management? Virginia Subscriber ... Read more
News You Can Use:
Know What CMS Has in Store for You for 2021
Payment rates, prolonged service confusion, and telehealth expansion top the list. As the... Read more
CPT® 2021 Revisions:
Get Your First Look at the 2021 CPT® E/M Revisions
Take note of these changes to prolonged services, care management codes. While CPT® 2021... Read more
ICD-10 Coding:
Stay Current With the 2020 ICD-10 Addenda (Part 2)
Note new influenza instructions, extensive juvenile arthritis and osteochondrosis revisio... Read more
You Be the Coder:
Use This Sequence in Multiple Modifier Scenarios
Question: What are the rules governing multiple modifier sequencing? Massachusetts Subscr... Read more
Reader Questions:
Remove These Codes and Modifiers to Report This Newborn Encounter
Question: On date of service 7/20, our pediatrician removed digits from a newborn's right ... Read more
Reader Questions:
Take This Counsel for Vaccine Administration Success
Question: A 5-year-old patient came with Mom to receive MMR [measles, mumps, and rubella] ... Read more
Reader Questions:
Think Twice Before Adding E/M to Cauterization Services
Question: Is it possible to bill a separate evaluation and management (E/M) service for a ... Read more
News You Can Use:
Stay Current With the 2021 ICD-10 Addenda (Part 1)
Here are just some of the codes you'll need to become familiar with beginning Oct. 1. Per... Read more
Guidelines:
Use This Guide to Make Your Way Through the 2021 ICD-10-CM Guidelines
COVID-10, vaping coding rules finalized for next year. Don't stress about the updated gui... Read more
Procedure Coding:
Get the Answers to All Your Wound Repair Questions
“Classify, locate, add” is your formula for repaired laceration documentation. Coding... Read more
Reader Questions:
Add CS Modifier to E/M, COVID-19 Tests Only in This Encounter
Question: One of our private insurers is requiring us to append modifier CS to all line it... Read more
Reader Questions:
Draw on This Advice for Accurate Venipuncture Coding
Question: Aside from the age restrictions, what is the difference between venipuncture cod... Read more
Reader Questions:
Turn to Destruction Codes for Chemical Lesion Removal
Question: I am confused about which CPT® code to use for milia destruction and the correc... Read more
You Be the Coder:
Don't Exclude This Advice from Your Dx Coding Understanding
Question: I am still confused by the Excludes1 and Excludes2 instructions in ICD-10. Can y... Read more
Case Study Corner:
Will the New E/M Guidelines Adversely Affect Your Bottom Line?
One common peds encounter could lose value in 2021, say our experts. Now that we have a c... Read more
Guidelines:
Follow This Advice and Keep Your ICD-10 Sequencing Guidelines in Order
Understanding why codes are sequenced is key, say experts. Instructions telling you how t... Read more
Care Management:
Take These Tips to Tame TCM
Hint: Fully understand TCM's core elements before implementation. When a pediatric patien... Read more
Reader Questions:
Hear the Reasons for This OAE Denial
Question: The insurance company is denying 92587 with Z01.10 for insufficient diagnosis. W... Read more
Reader Questions:
Fold Telehealth Work Into E/M When Related
Question: If a visit starts as telehealth and the patient then comes to the office for an ... Read more
Reader Questions:
Use These Codes to Avoid Contusion Confusion
Question: Our pediatrician just saw a patient who had a contusion on her left foot. Howeve... Read more
You Be the Coder:
Make Medication Management Coding Mishaps a Thing of the Past
Question: What codes should we use for attention deficit disorder (ADD)/attention-deficit ... Read more
2020 Reimbursement:
Take Away These 3 Pieces of Post-COVID Advice for Your Pediatric Practice
 Telemedicine increases help offset reduced visit and vaccination revenues. Pediatri... Read more
Coding Quiz:
Can You Ace This Inhalation Treatment Coding Quiz?
Hint: look to NCCI bundling guidelines for answers. There's a lot of room for errors when... Read more
Condition Spotlight:
Remember These 3 Things to Keep Your Dermatitis Coding Clear
And don't forget to take note of these 2 great expert tips. Of all the different skin con... Read more
Coding Quiz Answers:
Check Your Answers to Our Inhalation Treatment Quiz
Find out if your coding knowledge needs to be modified. Once you've answered the quiz que... Read more
Reader Questions:
Apply This After-Hours Code to Sunday Telemedicine Visits
Question: We normally have office hours on a Sunday and bill 99051 for those services. We ... Read more
Reader Questions:
Keep Your PKU Testing Future Bright With These Codes
Question: What is the best way to code for a newborn phenylketonuria (PKU) screen per... Read more
You Be the Coder:
Use This Principal Dx for Well-Newborn Hospital Care
Question: We have been using Z38.00 for newborn care when a single, vaginally born neonate... Read more
E/M Coding:
Know These 4 Big Changes Coming to Outpatient E/M Time Coding
But prolonged clinical staff services coding stays the same. In the April issue of P... Read more
Critical Care:
Consider Clinical Criteria, Bundled Services, Before Coding Critical Care
But ignore location as a deciding factor. “Critical care is … determined … by the&n... Read more
ICD-10 Coding:
Determine the Answers to These Frequently Asked SDOH Questions
Screen often for environmental factors influencing patient health, experts say. We are al... Read more
Reader Question:
Catch Up With These New COVID-19 Codes, Guideline Changes
Question: There have been so many coding changes regarding COVID-19 that we are having tr... Read more
You Be the Coder:
Look Beyond F90 for ADD Reporting
Question: I am confused by the F90.- codes, particularly which one to use when a patient i... Read more
News You Can Use:
Stay Current With the 2020 CMS COVID-19 Telehealth Waivers
Health emergency forces new additions to the telehealth list and temporary guidelines. Th... Read more
Guidelines:
Dial-in Your Knowledge of Telehealth Services
Dial-in Your Knowledge of Telehealth Services Master check-in, e-visit, and telemedicine ... Read more
Mythbusters:
Bust These Myths for Timely Seasonal Allergy Coding Relief
Our experts' advice is nothing to sneeze at. ‘Tis the season for seasonal allergies. Th... Read more
Reader Question:
Keep On Top of These COVID-19 Code Choices
Question: What are the current guidelines regarding ICD-10 and CPT® coding for the COVID-... Read more
You Be the Coder:
Understand Procedure for Accurate Lysis Adhesion Removal
Question: Our pediatrician performed a lysis of adhesions for a patient who had a previous... Read more
E/M Coding:
Modify Your 2021 MDM Understanding by Learning These Key Changes
 CPT® unveils new MDM table, definitions. Last month in Pediatric Coding Alert, we ... Read more
Coding Quiz:
How High Can You Score on This Underimmunization Quiz?
Time to get your Z28 understanding back on track. While the overall number of children va... Read more
Documentation:
Take Time to Fine-Tune Your Documentation Practices
Protect patients, providers with these 21 elements, 6 core components, and 5 tips. If y... Read more
Coding Quiz Answers:
Check Your Answers to Our Underimmunization Quiz
Find out if your coding knowledge needs to get back on schedule. Once you've answered the... Read more
Reader Question:
Encounter These Codes for STD Testing
Question: I have a pediatrician that is using A64 when he tests a patient for a sexually t... Read more
Reader Question:
Digest This Advice for Vegan Anemia Screening
Question: Our pediatrician just saw one of our adolescent patients who adopted a vegan lif... Read more
You Be the Coder:
Don't Let These Codes Impact Your Excess Earwax Removal Reporting
Question: Our pediatrician removed cerumen from a patient's left and right ears. The cerum... Read more
2020 Reimbursement:
Protect Your 2020 Bottom Line With These 5 Steps
Don't let decreases in revenue for common peds services drag you down. Every year, Chip H... Read more
E/M Coding:
Know How MDM Will Change – and How it Won't – in 2021
Say hello to new outpatient E/M guidelines, goodbye to 99201. In Pediatric Coding Alert v... Read more
ICD-10 Coding:
Follow the Guidelines, Code Abuse by the Book
And make sure your practice is prepared for the worst. Treating a child who has been phys... Read more
Reader Question:
Make This Code Your First Choice in This Second-Degree Burn Scenario
Question: One of our patients recently received a second-degree burn to the palm of her le... Read more
Reader Question:
Let Method Guide FBR Code Choice
Question: One of our teenage patients was involved in a car accident. She was treated at t... Read more
Reader Question:
Take Pains to Code This Foot Problem Correctly
Question: An adolescent male patient came in with pain in the right foot around the ankle ... Read more
You Be the Coder:
Examine Your Subsequent Care Savvy With This Scenario
Question: One of our young patients was just hospitalized for acute gastroenteritis and de... Read more
News You Can Use:
Note These Extensive NCCI Edits for Online Digital E/Ms
Make sure you bill email communications correctly this year. Late last year, the Centers ... Read more
Mythbusters:
Bust These 4 Myths, Preclude Preventive Service Claim Errors
Knowing what is, what is not, included is key. Preventive services are the lifeblood of a... Read more
Condition Spotlight:
Weigh the Answers to These Frequently Asked Pediatric BMI Questions
And take heed of these 3 notes of caution. Coding for a pediatric patient's body mass ind... Read more
Reader Question:
Examine This Encounter, Claim This Code
Question: Our pediatrician just saw a 4-year-old patient for a new patient well-child chec... Read more
Reader Question:
Know When, When Not, to Report Professional Service Component
Question: I'm hoping you can provide clarification on the appropriate date of service (DOS... Read more
Reader Question:
Choose This Code for Higher Level of Neonate Care
Question: Our pediatrician was making rounds at the local hospital and transferred a newbo... Read more
You Be the Coder:
Don't Prolong This Neonatal Intensive Care Service
Question: If we bill 99468 for neonatal intensive care, can we also bill a prolonged servi... Read more
E/M Coding:
Get Ready for the Upcoming E/M Changes With These 5 Tips
Hint: Now's the time to prepare for 2021. You know that, on Jan. 1, 2021, evaluation and ... Read more
Care Management:
Add These Changes to Your 2020 Care Management Coding Cognition
Build your CCM, TCM knowledge and increase your bottom line. In last month's Pediatric Co... Read more
Case Study Corner:
Evaluate Levels in This OM Case Study
See if you agree with our experts' decisions. You have probably coded more evaluation and... Read more
Reader Question:
Use Normal Newborn, Procedure Codes in This Home Birth Scenario
Question: Our pediatrician performed a normal newborn well-child service on a child w... Read more
Reader Question:
Test Your Knowledge of CPT® Time Guidelines With This Code
Question: We want to use 96112 for ASQ-3 questionnaires, but we're not sure what the code'... Read more
Reader Question:
Get Sore Throat Relief With This Dx
Question: We recently ran a rapid strep test on a young patient who came in complaining of... Read more
You Be the Coder:
Take This Counsel When Billing for Wellness Visits
Question: My pediatrician has just seen an infant for a wellness visit. The infant was bor... Read more
Available Years:  2020  2019  2018  2017  2016  2015  2014  2013  2012  2011  2010  2009  2008  2007  2006  2005  2004  2003  2002  2001  2000  1999  1998