OB Coding Education: Pregnant Patient Transfer Codes

Posted on 08. Oct, 2009 by .

More than 7 visits? Don’t make this compliance-busting coding mistake.

A pregnant patient moves out-of-state mid-pregnancy. Do you know how to report the services your ob-gyn provided up to the date of the move? Prepare for these situations by adopting the following approaches based  on the number of visits.

For 1-3 Visits, Rely on Office E/M Codes

If your ob-gyn sees a patient for only one, two, or three antepartum visits, you need to report the appropriate E/M codes to be reimbursed, says Tracy Anderson, CPC, credentialing/coding specialist for ACMH Physician Services in Kittanning, Pa.

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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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