Don’t Miss Out on E/M Fees by Initiating Ob Record Too Soon

Posted on 22. Mar, 2010 by Editor.

Test your ob record skills with this four part challenge.

If your ob-gyn simply confirms a patient’s pregnancy during an office visit, you’ll be able to report V72.42 (Pregnancy, confirmed). But when should you start the ob record? Take this four-part ob record challenge to discover where you stand.

Scenario 1: The ob-gyn sees a patient who knows that she’s pregnant via a positive home pregnancy test and simply “confirms the confirmation.” When should you start the ob record?

Answer: At the next visit.

If the ob-gyn performed only the urine pregnancy test, you’d report 81025 (Urine pregnancy test, by visual color comparison methods) or possibly a low-level E/M service if some discussion about her health took place.

Report V72.42 (Pregnancy examination or test, positive result). You will use this code when your ob-gyn simply tests to see if the patient is pregnant. This code will go on both the E/M code and the urine test, because you’ll be coding for what you know at the end of the visit. You won’t need any other V codes.

Scenario 2:

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Pregnancy Global Coding Guide: 59400, 59510, 59610 & 59618 Tips

Posted on 29. Jul, 2009 by .

Good news: You can report a higher-level (and higher-paying) E/M in this annual-visit situation.

Annual visits often lead to confusion when it comes to establishing a patient’s pregnancy. Take this 3-part challenge by deciding if the ob-gyn package begins based on these scenarios:

• a patient’s annual visit leads to a diagnosis of her pregnancy,

• she arrives knowing that she is pregnant, or

• the ob-gyn eliminates other possible diagnoses.

Hint: In the majority of circumstances, you should not begin counting antepartum visits for the global maternity codes (59400, 59510, 59610, 59618) until the next full visit, coding experts say.

AUDIO: The #1 mistake providers make when choosing the level of antepartum service. Melanie Witt shows you how to fix it for good.

Still Report Annual When Visit Leads to Pregnancy Dx

Scenario 1: If the ob-gyn diagnoses pregnancy (V72.42, Pregnancy examination or test, positive result) during a patient’s annual exam (99384-99386 for new patients, or 99394-99396 for established patients), you can still report the annual examination, as long as you link the pregnancy diagnosis to the diagnostic test (for instance, 81025, Urine pregnancy test, by visual color comparison methods).

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