June 25, 2020 Question: Can I bill for different diagnosis codes for conditions/problems when seeing a patient in the hospital after surgery, but during the stay of a major surgery? Answer: It depends. You cannot bill for related issues or known complications that arise from the surgery, but you can bill for unrelated conditions/problems with...
June 11, 2020 Question: Instead of a colostomy as described in the laparoscopic CPT codes 44208 or the open code, 44146, my doctor does a diverting ileostomy. We have been billing the primary codes 44145 or 44207 and adding the ileostomy code, 44187 if laparoscopic or 44310 if open. Is that correct? Answer: Partial colectomy...
May 28, 2020 Question: Can we bill the 92242 for the indocyanine green injection intraoperatively, for example to assess perfusion after a colectomy or other abdominal procedure? Can we bill for the injection using 15860? Answer: No, this service is included in primary surgery and not separately reported. *This response is based on the best...
May 14, 2020 Question: Since we have to bring the patients back in for COVID testing and H&P for Joint Commission, can we bill for this visit even though it’s another pre-op visit? Answer: Yes, since the patient was rescheduled due to the pandemic and needs to be seen for a COVID swab prior to surgery,...
April 30, 2020 Question: I am trying to find a resource that addresses telehealth billing in the post-operative period. Is it possible to bill a post-op follow-up telehealth video visit that is reimbursable in the post-operative/global period? Answer: If you are seeing the patient within the global period of a surgery performed by one of...
April 16, 2020 Question: Can we bill telehealth visits by time alone? Answer: Telehealth visits can now be billed according to medical decision-making (MDM) or time, so yes, as long as the code indicates it can be a time-based service in the CPT (e.g. 99201-99215). Just make sure to document the exact number of minutes spent with...
April 2, 2020 Question: I heard that Medicare patients don’t have to pay their deductible or coinsurance if they have a telemedicine visit. Is this true? Answer: Medicare is not waiving deductibles or co-insurance. However, they are allowing providers to do so at their discretion without penalty for telemedicine visits. This means the provider will...
March 19, 2020 Question: We have an office-based vein center and have heard that something called LCDs should be followed before a procedure is performed. We’re not sure what these are or if they are important and, if so, how to integrate them into our office processes. Answer: An LCD is a Local Coverage Determination. These...
March 5, 2020 Question: I’m a general surgeon. Some of my team are reporting the negative pressure wound therapy codes 97605 and 97606 when applying wound vacs after closing at the completion of their surgical cases. As a result, I am told by my coders that billing for these wound vacs is not appropriate, since there...
February 20, 2020 Question: In the past, when I did a total thyroidectomy and I needed to re-implant a parathyroid gland I would also code 60512. I am now being told by my coders that I cannot code 60512 if I implant a parathyroid gland in the sternocleidomastoid muscle. They say I can only charge...
