Wiki Routine visits for newborns

[HBULLOCK]

I was wondering what other pediatric practices were doing with their newborns. Currently we have them come in a few days after discharge from the hospital for their first routine. We then have them come back in two weeks as a followup to check weight and feeding issues. Then the next visit would be their 2 month physical when imms begin. Is anyone handling this differently?? I was told some practices have them come in at 1 month for another routine. Insurances only allow so many routine visits in the first year so i thought i would check what other practices are doing. Thanks

 

[jettman]

Helen, there's been a lot written about this topic, mostly stemming from the fear of using up yearly preventive visits. The American Academy of Pediatrics, in their coding newsletter from July 2008, has a lot of good info about NB follow-ups visits. Contact me off forum and I'll send you a copy. Also, if you can get your hands on a copy of the AAP's book, Coding For Perdiatrics, there's a wealth of info there.

We typically see infants in the office around 4 days after nursery discharge. Our physicians sometimes want to report the visit as 99213 or 99214 (they've been seen in the nursery, so they're not new pts..), but I fall back on a CPT Assistant bulletin from the Spring of 1993 and ask them, "Was the exam conducted in the absence of complaints, concerns, symptoms, etc.?" If so, you should report the visit using the preventive medicine series of codes.

Hope this helps,
J-man

 

[HBULLOCK]

Thanks j-man. I do have that july 2008 newsletter. I was just wondering how other pediatric coders are coding the first two months of visits. Thanks for the reply!! Anyone else do it differently??