Pediatric Coding Alert

Test your knowledge of these 5 common peds problems.

In your peds practice, you deal with codes associated with ear, nose, and throat (ENT) issues on a daily basis. But is your ENT knowledge good enough to code these tricky scenarios?

Take a look at the following questions, and when you think you know the answers, turn to page 21 and compare them with those of our experts.

Question 1: A parent brings a toddler in to see your provider. The toddler is complaining of pain in the right ear. Should you code for otalgia or otitis media?

Question 2: An adolescent patient with a history of sinusitis reports to your office complaining of headaches, facial pain, and nasal congestion lasting for almost four weeks. Your provider diagnoses acute recurrent sinusitis. Do you code J01.81 (Other acute recurrent sinusitis) or J01.91 (Acute recurrent sinusitis, unspecified)?

Question 3: Your provider performed a lengthy cautery using a silver nitrate stick on both nostrils of a patient with a history of nosebleeds. What is the best way to report this procedure?

Question 4: A 9-month-old patient comes in for a preventive medicine visit. During the visit, your pediatrician performs a hearing screening. How do you document this?

Question 5: A patient reports with vomiting, fever, and a headache. The patient tells your pediatrician that strep has been going around in school. Your provider orders a strep test, but the test comes back negative. How do you code this?