Internal Medicine: Cardiac Screenings, Diabetes, Flu Shots and Observations
Learn how to streamline your internal medicine coding and get tips on avoiding denials.
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Avoid making coding for cardiac screening a chamber of horrors with these quick tips on identifying and coding your internist’s cardiac tests.
When your internist screens a Medicare patient for cardiovascular disease, there are several tests she might perform. Medicare covers some cardiac screening procedures for asymptomatic patients; other types of tests, however, need to be prompted by medical necessity. Avoid miscoding and denials by using these tips for identifying the different types of cardiovascular screens your physician might perform in the office.
EKG Claims Result in ‘Paper’ Trail
“There are multiple options for evaluating the electrical activity in the heart,” relayed Christina Neighbors, MA, CPC, ACS-CA, of Franciscan Health Systems in Tacoma, Wash., during her recent audioconference, “Coding and Billing Best Practices for Heart Rhythm Procedures” (www.audioeducator.com).
EKG clues: One of these tests is an electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG). During an EKG, the physician places six leads on the patient’s chest and additional leads on each extremity, and then gets a printed readout of the patient’s heart activity. Coding for this procedure will depend on the level of your internist’s involvement, Neighbors said.
When the internist performs an EKG, choose from the following codes:
• 93000 — Electrocardiogram, routine ECG with at least 12 leads; with interpretation and report
• 93005 – … tracing only, without interpretation and
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