Primary Care Coding Alert

Medical necessity and acceptable timeframes are must-haves before coding.You could soon be coding for more bone density screenings, thanks to new recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) that might lower the age at which family physicians could begin screening some women for osteoporosis. Act now to ensure you're assigning the correct diagnosis codes and verifying medical necessity.1. Know Osteoporosis, Osteopenia DifferencesMany people think of osteoporosis when they hear the term "bone density screening." Osteoporosis -- which literally means "porous bone" --" is a disease characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue. The changes lead to bone fragility and an increased risk of hip, spine, and wrist fractures. The condition is essentially a bone disease caused by dropping estrogen levels in postmenopausal women.When your physician diagnoses osteoporosis, you'll select from code family 733.0x (Osteoporosis). Choose the diagnosis based on the patient's specific type of osteoporosis [...]