Wiki Surveillance or Screening Colonoscopy

[dkrisak]

This is now very confusing as an AAPC article written by Anna Barnes states that surveillance colonoscopies are not screenings and to code V12.72. She states you cannot code V76.51 with V12.72.

Clinic Clinic, 4th Q 2013 states that surveillance colonoscopies are still considered screenings and to code V76.51 as first listed code and then code
V12.72 as an additional dx and is considered a high risk screen G0105 I presume.

Clear as mud to me. Any ideas on who to follow? I don't see anything specific to this in the guidelines, so my guess would be to follow the coding clinic.

 

[mitchellde]

Coding clinics are consider to be the highest authority for compliance for coding. I go with coding clinics. Just because an article is written does not make it correct. Did this person give any authoritative source other than some other article?

 

[dkrisak]

You are right. I am following Coding Clinic. Her source is the USPSTF.
The US Preventive Services Task Force.

 

[pwright3603]

Surveillance or Screening colonoscopy

I wholeheartly agree! It is as clear as mud when you get 2 differing opinions. I was skeptical that a V12.72 was not screening, but amended some of my coding, and now that Coding Clinic is referenced, I will go back to my original way and code it as screening.

 

[tlsonnier]

My physicians did a screening colonoscopy on a patient and found polyps in 2007, 10 years ago. We coded it 45380PT , V76.51, 211.3. Pt came back 3 years later, 2010, for screening/surveillance and nothing was found, G0121, v12.72. Patient had another colon 3 years after the last one ,2013, and nothing found again, G0121,v12.72. Pt is now coming back in for screening colon. My question is, the pt had a screening 10 years ago and has personal history of polyps but nothing has been found for 10 years, can we bill a true screening, G0105, Z12.11 or do we still need to use the personal history code Z86.010? Will copay and deductibles apply?