Practice Management Alert

Remember, ‘chronic’ is in the eye of the payer.

Many medical practices, especially those involved in primary care specialties, see their share of chronic migraine headache sufferers.

You could get a headache yourself trying to figure out whether a patient has a chronic migraine (G43.7-, Chronic migraine without aura). The task can be time-consuming, as there are some parameters that the condition must fit in order to be considered chronic for coding purposes.

Luckily, we’ve got Yvonne Bouvier, CPC, CEDC, senior coding analyst for Bill Dunbar and Associates, LLC, in Indianapolis, Ind., and she’s got a solution. Check out this list of indicators for chronic migraines that Bouvier recommended.

Then, make copies and post it where anyone in the office will need to decide whether a patient has a chronic migraine.

CHRONIC MIGRAINE SYMPTOMS

Chronic migraines occur 15 or more days per month for at least a three-month period without medication overuse (per the Mayo Clinic and the International Headache Society).

In addition, chronic migraine sufferers must have experienced two or more of the following symptoms eight or more days per month for at least three months:

• Moderate to severe headaches
• Each headache lasts 4 hours or more
• Headaches occurring on one side of your head only
• Headaches that are pulsating pain
• Headaches that are aggravated by routine physical activity
• Headaches causing vomiting/nausea or both
• Headaches coupled with sensitivity to light and sound.