Wiki Help with pacemaker coding

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harebt@charter.net said:
Good Afternoon,

Can you bill for placement and removal of a pacemaker in the same session?

Thanks in advance :)

Tina
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If it's a generator change, of course you can. There are single codes for removal of old and placement of new generator; if its leads as well then you need to give more information for us to help you.
 
The patient came in for a pacemaker placement, they were able to get the electrodes and generator in but the pacemaker site would not stop oozing so they removed everything and they are bringing the patient back at another time to try and put the pacemaker in.

Thanks True Blue for responding.

Tina
 
Pacemaker coding

harebt@charter.net said:
The patient came in for a pacemaker placement, they were able to get the electrodes and generator in but the pacemaker site would not stop oozing so they removed everything and they are bringing the patient back at another time to try and put the pacemaker in.

Thanks True Blue for responding.

Tina
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Ok, that's a completely different situation and one I've never encountered. I don't understand why the provider would complete the procedure then remove everything just because of oozing from the incision site.
They can't bill the pacemaker and lead placement twice because it would only be implanted once and they can't bill the removal either. Probably an unbillable service.
 
Very interesting. Never had that scenario either. I would think/hope it is documented why it was neccessary to explant everything....(high risk of infection, etc) If so, I'd think a 53 modifier may be worth looking into.
 
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