Pulmonology Coding Alert

NCCI bundles spirometry with 6-minute walk tests. When your pulmonologist performs a pulmonary stress test, you'll need to choose between 94620 and 94621, but discerning whether a test is simple or complex to make the right code selection isn't always clear. Our guidelines that follow will help you make this task of reporting a pulmonary stress test easier.Capture the Stress Test DifferencesYou will have to know the differences between simple and complex tests so that you will know which of the options to report. Key: "The first difference is the level of supervision needed. The simple stress requires general while the complex requires direct," says Jill Young, CPC, CEDC, CIMC, owner of Young Medical Consulting in East Lansing, Mich.Your pulmonologist will order a simple test to assess the patient's shortness of breath or wheezing or to assess a patient prior to a lung surgery. "A simple stress test has a baseline [...]