Pulmonology Coding Alert

Your pulmonologist can sleep easy tonight: The National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI), version 9.2, will have a relatively minor effect on pulmonology.

The new NCCI bundles nasal endoscopy (31231, Nasal endoscopy, diagnostic, unilateral or bilateral [separate procedure]) with bronchoscopy codes (31622-31656). Because most pulmonologists perform these procedures separately, the bundling should not greatly change how you code the procedures, says Mary Mulholland, BSN, RN, CPC, a reimbursement analyst for the office of clinical documentation at the University of Pennsylvanias department of medicine in Philadelphia.

For example, pulmonologists often use 31231 to inspect the nasal cavity for polyps, which are common for asthma suffers, Mulholland says. Physicians usually perform 31231 during separate procedures and on different days than bronchoscopies, she adds. Also, pulmonologists routinely choose the mouth as an entry point for bronchoscopies instead of the nose because the mouth allows for easier access to the lungs so your pulmonologist would have little reason to perform a 31231 during that bronchoscopy.