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Pulmonology Coding Alert

You Be the Coder:

Tracheostomy

Published on Mon Dec 31, 2012

Question: A patient arrives in the emergency room with a severe chemical burn to the throat, and breathing quickly becomes impossible. The pulmonologist performs a tracheostomy. How should I code this? And how does this coding compare to that when the tracheostomy was planned because of a tumor?

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Test your coding knowledge. Determine how you would code this situation before looking at the box below for the answer.


  Answer: The correct tracheostomy code depends on two sets of conditions. Was the procedure planned or in response to an emergency? Once youve determined the answer to that question, you must review the patient record to determine the location and method of the incision for the tracheostomy.

For a planned procedure, use 31600 (tracheostomy, planned [separate procedure]) for the basic tracheostomy. If the patient is [...]
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