Pulmonology Coding Alert
Secure Your Car Seat Test Coding Skills
Question: I’m new to pulmonology coding and have a report that states the pulmonologist performed a car seat test on a 2-month-old patient to evaluate the patient’s airways. The report says the test lasted for one hour. How do I report this procedure? Oklahoma Subscriber Answer: You’ll assign 94780 (Car seat/bed testing for airway integrity, for infants through 12 months of age, with continual clinical staff observation and continuous recording of pulse oximetry, heart rate and respiratory rate, with interpretation and report; 60 minutes) to report the car seat test. CPT® guidelines and a parenthetical note under 94780 states the test must last for the full 60 minutes, so be sure to double check the time spent performing the test in the pulmonologist’s report. During a car seat test, the physician continuously monitors the infant as the respiratory rate, heart rate, and pulse oximetry are recorded. The baby remains in the car seat throughout the examination. The provider then interprets the results and writes a report after the test is concluded. Usually, providers perform car seat tests before the patient is discharged home from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or hospital. The test allows providers to evaluate babies born prematurely or who are at risk of developing heart disease or who have congenital malformations.
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Secure Your Car Seat Test Coding Skills
Question: I’m new to pulmonology coding and have a report that states the pulmonologist performed a [...]
