Complications peculiar to certain specified procedures (996)

Question: A patient came to our office for evaluation of her trach tube with pain at the trach site.  The physician used the diagnosis of 519.02 (Mechanical complication of tracheostomy).  This was denied by the payer as an invalid diagnosis. What [...]

Question: How should I code this? The cardiologist replaced a dual-lead pacemaker generator for end of life, but he also replaced the malfunctioning right atrial lead at the same time. Pennsylvania Subscriber Answer: You should report the different steps separately using these [...]

Search beyond trauma codes for spontaneous and post-THR reductions. CPT® and ICD-9 both offer specific codes depending on the reason for a patient’s hip dislocation. Here’s where to turn when a claim for something other than trauma crosses your desk. [...]

Question: The patient had endovascular repair of a descending thoracic aorta aneurysm in May 2014. I need to code a March 2015 repair of an endoleak. How should I report placement of a proximal extension prosthesis in the descending thoracic aorta [...]

Question: The patient had endovascular repair of a descending thoracic aorta aneurysm in May 2014. I need to code a March 2015 repair of an endoleak. How should I report placement of a proximal extension prosthesis in the descending thoracic aorta [...]

Question: Which diagnosis code should I use for a pacemaker battery change when the battery stops working? Georgia Subscriber Answer: The most appropriate code for replacement at the end of the expected battery life is V53.31 (Fitting and adjustment of cardiac pacemaker). [...]

Question: Our physician performed stent exchange on a patient with stricture of the biliary duct because of stent blockage. What is the correct way to code this service? Am I correct to code 576.2 as the primary ICD9 code, and 996.59 [...]

Question: Our patient underwent an open reduction/internal fixation (ORIF) of a mid-shaft humeral fracture, but now is experiencing loosening of the proximal portion of the locking plate above the fracture site. Our surgeon (who performed her original surgery) took her [...]

Question: Our new patient was admitted to home health following explantation of his infected left hip prosthesis. He’s on IV Vancomycin to treat the infection. We have orders for skilled nursing to administer the IV antibiotics for three weeks, perform lab [...]

5 strategies keep complications out and reimbursement in. With ICD-10 delayed yet another year, it may be a good time to polish your ICD-9 late effects coding skills. Not only will this help improve your reimbursement when addressing and treating [...]