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Pediatric Coding Alert

Summer Coding:

Let the Level of Complication Guide Your Tick Removal Choices

Published on Thu May 27, 2010

Watch for this key action before looking beyond E/M codes. A mother brings her daughter to your office and asks your staff to remove a tick from behind the child's knee. If you're unsure when to consider the removal part of a typical office service versus foreign body removal, let these scenarios and our experts' recommendations help guide your choices. Uncomplicated Removal Is E/M The tick is on the back of the child's left knee, but hasn't buried itself. The pediatrician grasps and removes the tick with forceps. The removal is uncomplicated and doesn't require any digging. Code it: "If the provider or staff member simply grasped the tick and removed it without any incision, then I would recommend reporting only an E/M code," says JoAnne M. Wolf, RHIT, CPC, coding manager for Children's Physician Network in Minneapolis, Minn. Such a simple removal supports the lowest-level office visit E/M codes: [...]
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