Pediatric Coding Alert

Find out what you should report when the patient decides against immunization.Coding for human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine administration can get tricky when the patient refuses the vaccine after extensive counseling or when the patient is a male. Read on for three HPV vaccine myths and how good documentation can help your coding cause. Myth 1: You Won't Get Paid for Extra CounselingBeing paid for extensive counseling in conjunction with the HPV vaccine might be difficult, but isn't impossible. Background: CPT limits physician counseling as part of vaccine administration to children through 8 years of age (90465-90468). When the child passes age 8, you shift to vaccine administration codes 90471-90474 and this code set doesn't contain a counseling component. HPV vaccine administration can begin with children at age 9, which means you turn to codes such as 90471 (Immunization administration [includes percutaneous, intradermal, subcutaneous, or intramuscular injection{s}]; 1 vaccine [single [...]