Primary Care Coding Alert
Keep Your ABN Handy for Urinalysis Screening Tests
Question: Indiana Subscriber Answer: When treating non-Medicare patients, check the payer's policy before seeing the patient. You might need to ask the patient to sign an ABN-type acknowledgement to receive payment. Again, from a coding perspective, a screening urinalysis is not considered part of a preventive medicine visit service (codes 99381-99397) and should be reported separately, if performed.
Primary Care Coding Alert
- Case Study:
Learn When to Code Anaphylaxis Versus Allergic Reaction
Tip: Count the number of body systems involved to make the right choice.Summertime is here, [...] - Knee Injections:
Count Muscles, Not Injections, When Coding Trigger Points
Here's your guide to success with TPI versus other knee injections.All knee injections -- and coding [...] - E/M:
Avoid Getting Caught in These 3 Common E/M Traps
Incident to, critical care must meet certain criteria.As a family medicine coder, you're accustomed to [...] - ICD-10:
Prepare for Additional Code Reporting for Foreign Body Removal
Once ICD-10 goes into effect, check the type of retained body.Choosing your primary diagnosis code [...] - You Be the Coder:
Selecting Correct ICD-9 Code for Multiple Burns
Question: An established patient reports to our physician with firstand second-degree burns to his abdominal [...] - Reader Question:
Choose Between 782.9 and 705.89 for Body Odor
Question: A mother brought her 6-year-old daughter to our office because she was concerned about [...] - Reader Question:
Look Beyond Obesity for Primary Diagnosis
Question: Some of our insurers refuse to pay for obesity as a primary or secondary [...] - Reader Question:
Keep Your ABN Handy for Urinalysis Screening Tests
Question: Is a urinalysis (screening) included in or bundled with a patient's initial preventive physical [...] - Reader Question:
Coding for Closure with Dermabond
Question: An established patient visited our office because of severe hyperkeratosis affecting both feet. The [...] - Reader Question:
Skip Preventive Exam Codes for Skin Cancer Screening
Question: My physician saw a patient for a skin cancer screening. Should I use the [...] - Reader Question:
Payer Policy Trumps Coding Guidelines
Question: Our Medicaid carrier refuses to accept the new vaccination codes, but we know it's [...] - Reader Question:
Get Specific Diagnosis Before Coding Tissue Infection
Question:Our physician treated a soft-tissue infection on a patient's finger. Which diagnosis code should we [...]
