Reader Questions:
Prevent Concurrent Care Denials
Published on Sat Sep 26, 2009
Question: An internist treats an established patient with controlled type II diabetes with ketoacidosis as a hospital inpatient. On day one, the internist checks on the patient during his rounds, and the patient complains of shortness of breath (SOB). Suspecting pneumonia, the internist requests a consult from a pulmonologist. On day two, tests confirm that the patient has viral pneumonia. The internist asks the pulmonologist to take over care for the patient's pneumonia but continues to see the patient to manage his diabetes. Notes indicate that the pulmonologist provided level-two care. To avoid the insurer denying the pulmonologist's claim as duplicative of the internist's, how should I code the pulmonologist's portion of day two's concurrent care? Nevada Subscriber Answer: The pulmonologist should report 99232 (Subsequent hospital care, per day, for the evaluation and management of a patient, which requires at least 2 of these 3 key components: an expanded problem [...]
