Wiki Foreign Body Removal

[debellis59]

Hi All.

I'm not sure there even is a procedure for this, none seem to grasp what is going on with this patient.

He came in with a wire piercing his hand. The following is the pertinent part of the note:

The R hand has a wire piercing through the palm, just ulnar to the 3rd metacarpal. No bleeding, no other wounds
*
Imaging: R hand XR shows no fx, wire passing in 3-4 metacarpal interspace
*
Assessment:
1. R hand retained foreign body
*
After the wire was prepped, it was pulled out without difficulty using a hemostat. Pt tolerated well. Wounds washed. Pt subsequently showed FROM all digits with FDS and FDP intact to all fingers.

I'm thinking this is just part of the NP Office Visit ... But another set of eyes would be appreciated. I know this should be simple ...

Thank you.

 

[MI_CODER]

When I run this through my coding software (3M) I get the following message:

Non-incisional removal of foreign body from the skin and subcutaneous tissue is considered to be part of the E&M code and is not reported separately.

References: AMA Department of Coding and Nomenclature

So I agree with you that since they didn't make an incision and just pulled the wire out that this would be part of the E&M visit.

 

[debellis59]

Thank you so much for your response. It's always nice to have that second set of eyes!

 

[angbart80]

I agree

I agree, it should be included in the e/m code.