Report unrelated complaint management as 99211 Reporting 99211 plus immunization administration will pass muster if you reserve the code for encounters involving a significant, separate problem unrelated to the procedure. CC, Problem Justify Separate E/M You should report a medically necessary E/M that is significant and separate from the immunization encounter. "When the provider (usually the nurse) evaluates, manages, and documents a complaint(s) or problem(s), you can justify the additional reporting of CPT 99211," says Steven M. Verno, CMBSI, CMMC, CMMB, NREMTP, compliance director with the Medical Association of Billers. Key: "These nursing activities are all directly related to the significant, separate complaint, and are unrelated to the actual vaccine administration," Verno says. Different Diagnoses Solidify Billable Service Looking at the diagnoses can help you spot a service that warrants coding a nurse visit. "Additional diagnoses on the encounter sheet should alert you to report 99211 with modifier -25," says Maria M. Torres, CPC, CMM, CCC, CMSCS, a primary-care consultant with Bermudez Medical Consulting Services in Tampa, Fla. E/M, Procedure Notes Demonstrate 99211 If you can draw a line between the E/M service and the vaccine administration, you can safely bill 99211. A separate nurse visit should include the following AAP-recommended documentation: Nurse Visit Requires CC, Plan If you can identify a chief complaint and/or problem, an assessment and treatment plan, go ahead and bill a 99211 as this example shows:
Recent American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines on billing a nurse visit in addition to vaccine administration made the issue as clear as mud. "If we make an appointment, pull and prepare the chart, obtain a history, and prepare and administer the vaccine with chart documentation, should we bill for 99211?" asks Debbie Argo, office manager at Family Care of Kent in Kent, Wash.
Look for this information when determining whether you should bill 99211 with 90465-90474.
To identify a stand-alone 99211, you can check for these bullets. The nurse typically:
Why: Using different diagnoses helps show the payer that the nurse's service is medically necessary and separate from the vaccine administration. CPT, however, does not require you to report a separate ICD-9 code for the visit and the immunization administration.
The nurse should record the above items in a separate entry from the vaccine documentation. The provider usually records the vaccine documentation product, lot number, site and method, vaccination sheet date, etc., on the immunization history document, Verno says.
Your nurse sees a 7-month-old girl for influenza immunization. The nurse takes a brief history and learns the infant has a cough without change in appetite, sleep or activity level. He takes vital signs and assesses that the infant has no contraindications to getting the vaccine, and discusses the management of the respiratory problem with the mother.
In this case, you should code the nurse visit in addition to the immunization administration. The nurse evaluates a significant problem - the infant's cough - and offers management options.
Because the nurse performs a medically necessary service that is significant and separate from administering the influenza vaccine, you should report 99211 and append modifier -25 (Significant, separately identifiable evaluation and management service by the same physician on the same day of the procedure or other service) in addition to 90471 (Immunization administration [includes percutaneous, intradermal, subcutaneous, or intramuscular injections]; one vaccine [single or combination vaccine/toxoid]).
The claim should read: