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Urology Coding Alert

Reader Question:

Save 99238-99239 for 0-Day Globals

Published on Sat Apr 17, 2010

Question: My urologist performed a procedure on the 23rd of the month. On the 24th he reviewed the patient, went over everything, and discharged the patient. Am I correct that I can charge for the hospital discharge (such as 99238) for a patient by the same doctor, with the same diagnosis code in the global period of the procedure? Alaska Subscriber Answer: Unfortunately, you may be incorrect. If you are in a global period of a procedure or if the discharge is on the same day as the surgery, you cannot separately report the discharge codes: 99238-99239 (Hospital discharge day management ...). In these cases the discharge is included in the procedure coding and global period. Exception: With certain urological procedures that have a zero-day global -- such as ureteroscopic and transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURB) procedures -- if the patient is admitted to the hospital after surgery and then discharged [...]
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