Wiki Exam portion of note

[Lynda Wetter]

I recently listened to the local MAC webinar and the speaker said that for the PE portion of the encounter you can only count Body Areas OR Organ systems. I read the DG's to read and/or. Do you know if this is a jurisdiction quirk or am I not interpreting the DG's correctly? Can I count BA and OS or is it one or the other.

 

[OCD_coder]

This is a Novitas driven methodology primarily based on how their E&M tool is set up. To define it a little more clearly. The 95 DG stated that only the comprehensive exam is an "organ system" only driven documentation. The 97 DG do allow body areas and/or organ systems if you look closely at the specialty specific tools.

Coding tip: Don't credit by the header, use the information behind the header as sometimes you can credit more than one organ system under a single header.