Pulmonology Coding Alert

Use these codes to describe patient history, pharmacological therapy

CPT 2006 adds two asthma-related Category II codes that you can begin using to provide carriers with additional clinical information when your pulmonologist treats certain asthma patients.

"These codes describe clinical components that may be typically included in evaluation and management services or clinical services and, therefore, do not have a relative value (RVU) associated with them," states CPT Changes 2006: An Insider's View. Here are the two Category II codes that will be important for pulmonology practices:

• 1005F -- Asthma symptoms evaluated (includes physician documentation of numeric frequency of symptoms or patient completion of an asthma assessment tool/survey/questionnaire)

• 4015F -- Persistent asthma, long term control medication (inhaled corticosteroids or an acceptable alternative treatment, [cromolyn sodium, leukotriene modifier, nedocromil, or sustained release theophylline]), prescribed.

1005F is a patient history code that you can use to help identify how your physician described certain aspects of the patient's asthma history. 4015F is a therapeutic or preventive code you can use to describe pharmacological therapy your pulmonologist prescribes for a patient.