Re: Coding readmission

From: Garry E. Siegel, M.D. (garrys@mindspring.com)
Tue Apr 29 21:34:44 2008


Glen:

I'm at home and don't have a CPT book available, thankfully.

I suspect that there are modifiers that you can add, though I'm told many carriers simply ignore them (my experienced coding people swear that modifiers are similar to urinating in the ocean in terms of effectiveness).

What may not be clear is if you are in the "global period" after surgery such that the readmission may not be recognized, but a second surgery should be. I think--based on what my staff has told me--that the global period for laparoscopy is, in general, 10 days.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

Garry

At Tue, 29 Apr 2008, Glen Elrod wrote: >
>22 yo G2P1 underwent linear salpingostomy for left sided ectopic. Pt discharged home the next day. Four days later she was admitted for LLQ pain and found to have a hematoma. H/H were stable as were vitals and pain was controlled with narcotics. Can I bill for this readmission after the initial surgery?
>
>Pt was then discharged and presented the next day with worsening pain, increase in the size of the hematoma and was taken for salpingectomy. Will the new procedure be billable by me since it is a new diagnosis and new procedure?
>
>One of these days I'll take a coding class.
>
>thanks,
>
>Glen
>

--
Garry E. Siegel, M.D.
Private Practice
Roswell, GA




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