Pediatric Coding Alert

VACCINE CODING :

Bust These 5 Myths to Ensure You Hang on to Your Immunization Income

Published on Thu Jun 28, 2012

Keep your vaccine money flowing with these easy-to-implement tips.
Vaccine payments make up a significant part of your pediatric practice's A/R, but if you fall under the spell of these common myths, you could be losing your immunization income. Check out the following five vaccine coding pitfalls, and follow our advice to ensure that you don't fall into these traps.
Myth 1: You Should Always Report V20.2 With Vaccines
Scenario: You administer a vaccine and automatically circle V20.2 (Routine infant or child health check) on the superbill-but your payer denies the claim, asking you to itemize diagnoses to match the immunizations. Why?
Reality: The belief that V20.2 is the only code applicable to well-child vaccines is actually a myth. Although V20.2 is certainly the most common diagnosis code for this purpose, and is usually payable, it is not your only option.

You’ve reached your limit of free articles. Already a subscriber? Log in.

Not a subscriber? Subscribe today to continue reading this article. Plus, you’ll get:

Simple explanations of current healthcare regulations and payer programs
Real-world reporting scenarios solved by our expert coders
Industry news, such as MAC and RAC activities, the OIG Work Plan, and CERT reports
Instant access to every article ever published in Revenue Cycle Insider
6 annual AAPC-approved CEUs
The latest updates for CPT®, ICD-10-CM, HCPCS Level II, NCCI edits, modifiers, compliance, technology, practice management, and more