You are correct it is not enough and tells us absolutely nothing
See below
Family History (FH): A review of medical events in the patient?s family which may include information about:
The health status or cause of death of parents, siblings and children
Specific diseases related to problems identified in the Chief Compliant, HPI, or ROS
Diseases of family members which may be hereditary or place the patient at risk
Social History (SH): An age appropriate review of the patient?s past and current activities which may include significant information about:
Marital status and/or living arrangements
Current employment
Occupational history
Use of drugs, alcohol or tobacco
Level of education
Sexual history
Other relevant social factors
There are two levels of PFSH :
Pertinent PFSH: At least ONE specific item from ANY of the three components of PFSH must be documented.
Complete PFSH: A review of two or all three of the PFSH components are required depending on the category of E/M service
At least ONE item from TWO out of three PFSH components must be documented for a Complete PFSH for:
1) Established Office Patient
2) ER visits
3) Subsequent Nursing Facility Care
4) Established Patient Domiciliary Care
5) Established Patient Home Care
At least ONE specific item from THREE of the three components of PFSH must be documented for a Complete PFSH for:
1) New Office Patient
2) Hospital Observation Services
3) Hospital H&P
4) Consultations
5) Comprehensive Nursing Facility Assessments
6) New Patient Domiciliary Care
6) New Patient Home Care
You docs are welcome to pull forward the patient's PMFSH into the current encounter and then update it as needed. Certain truths will never change, cause of death of family members for example.
See the reference:
http://emuniversity.com/PFSH.html