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Code Correct Closure Level With These Tips

All closures aren’t created equal; one of the nuances of coding these procedures is knowing how to distinguish one type from another. Read on for our experts’ advice on how to assess the three closure levels and assign the best codes.

A simple repair involves primarily the dermis and epidermis. It might involve subcutaneous tissues, but not deep layers.

How do you know when a closure might involve subcutaneous layers but is still considered a simple repair? Your provider’s documentation is the key. The difference is whether the wound is closed in layers or just a single layer, experts note. The provider might decide to include the subcutaneous layer in the closure but does so by bringing the needle through the dermis into the subcutaneous and back. That results in a single-layer closure rather than closing the subcutaneous layer first and then the dermis/epidermis second in separate closure techniques.

But “simple” doesn’t mean the repair is something anyone could do. Simple repairs involve one-layer closure, which helps set them apart from a standard E/M procedure. Simple repair also includes “local anesthesia, and chemical or electrocauterization of wounds not closed,” says Dilsia Santiago, CCS, CCS-P, a coder in Reading, Pa.

For example, if your dermatologist uses adhesive strips to close a laceration, consider it an E/M service that you’ll report with the best-fitting choice from codes 99201-99205 (Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of a new patient …) or 99211-99215 (Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of an established patient …). Most Steri-strip applications are done by nursing staff; but even if the physician applies them, they’re included in the E/M service.

If, however, your dermatologist uses sutures, staples, or tissue adhesives to close the laceration, consider it a separate procedure. Choose…

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One Medicare Contractor OK’s RNs and LPNs to Furnish Annual Wellness Visit

CMS staffers confirmed this week that MACs can determine whether they’ll allow licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and registered nurses (RNs) to perform annual wellness visits (AWVs) and collect from Medicare for those services. That’s the word from a Feb. 22 CMS Open Door Forum, where providers called in with several questions affecting Part B providers.

One caller phoned into the forum to ask about a Q&A posted on the Web site of WPS Medicare, a Part B payer in four states, which asks whether an RN or LPN can perform “the entire annual wellness visit (AWV, G0438-G0439).” WPS responds on the site, “Yes, an RN or LPN can perform the visit. They need to be under the direct supervision of a physician and the state license needs to allow for them to do all the ocmpoennts of the service.” (http://www.wpsmedicare.com/part_b/education/awv-faq.shtml). The caller asked whether this is a general CMS policy or if it only applies to WPS Medicare.

“Remember, the LPN’s not billing,” said CMS’s William Rogers, MD, reminding the caller that the visit would be billed under the physician’s NPI as “incident to.” But the caller still considered it “odd” that an LPN could perform an AWV, since it’s similar to an E/M service.

“It’s a different sort of service – there’s not really any clinical judgment involved,” Rogers said. “It’s a service which includes a lot of sort of administrative steps, verifying that people have certain preventive services done and things like that, and so it is intended to be a collaborative service.”

Keep in mind that CMS does not have a national policy allowing LPNs and RNs to perform AWVs, but reps from the agency confirmed that it’s within the rights of the individual MACs to make this determination.

For more on this story,…

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Switch to 43327, 43328 for Esophagogastric Fundoplasty

Open or laparoscopic, through chest or abdominal wall, with or without hiatal hernia repair, with or without mesh … these are the various ways your surgeon might perform an esophagogastric fundoplasty. And these are the factors you’ll need to take into account when you try to pick the proper code(s) from among nine new choices in CPT 2011.

Let our experts show the way with four how-to tips for paraesophageal hiatalhernia repair and fundoplication coding for 2011.

Tip 1: Understand Pathophysiology

“When a patient is described as having a hiatal hernia, it usually means that part of the stomach has herniated through the opening in the diaphragm [esophageal hiatus] into the chest and is usually associated with esophageal reflux disease,” according to Gary W. Barone, MD, a physician and associate professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.

The hernia repair typically involves the surgeon reducing the stomach back into the abdomen and suturing the enlarged diaphragmatic hiatus, explains M. Tray Dunaway, MD, FACS, CSP, a general surgeon and an educator with Healthcare Value Inc. in Camden, S.C.

During the fundoplication procedure, such as Nissen, the surgeon additionally wraps part of the fundus (top) of the stomach around the esophagus and sutured in place. This creates a “valve” that allows food to reach the stomach from the esophagus but prevents reflux back to the esophagus.

“I would say the Nissen fundoplication is the most common surgical procedure to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD),” Dunaway adds. Watch for gastroplasty: Sometimes the esophagus is shortened and the surgeon can’t reduce the hernia. “The surgeon might perform a gastroplasty, forming a tube of stomach to effectively elongate the distal esophagus,” Dunaway says. An example of such a procedure is a Collis gastroplasty.

Tip 2: Use 43332-43337 for Open…

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37228-+37235 Cover Your Tibial/Peroneal Service Codes

Facing denials on your tibial/peroneal codes? No worries, help is at hand.

The new tibial/peroneal service codes are below. Note that all of the codes include angioplasty in the same vessel when that service is performed.

The first four codes apply to the initial tibial or peroneal vessel treated in a single leg:

  • Angioplasty: 37228 — Revascularization, endovascular, open or percutaneous, tibial/peroneal artery, unilateral, initial vessel; with transluminal angioplasty
  • Atherectomy (and angioplasty): 37229 — … with atherectomy, includes angioplasty within the same vessel, when performed
  • Stent (and angioplasty): 37230 – … with transluminal stent placement(s), includes angioplasty within the same vessel, when performed
  • Stent and atherectomy (and angioplasty): 37231 — … with transluminal stent placement(s) and atherectomy, includes angioplasty within the same vessel, when performed.

The final four codes are add-on codes that you use to report services on each additional ipsilateral (same side) vessel treated in the tibial/peroneal territory:

  • Angioplasty: +37232 — Revascularization, endovascular, open or percutaneous, tibial/peroneal artery, unilateral, each additional vessel; with transluminal angioplasty (List separately in addition to code for primary procedure) (use with 37228-37231)
  • Atherectomy (and angioplasty): +37233 — … with atherectomy, includes angioplasty within the same vessel, when performed (List separately in addition to code for primary procedure) (use with 37229-37231)
  • Stent (and angioplasty): +37234 — … with transluminal stent placement(s), includes angioplasty within the same vessel, when performed (List separately in addition to code for primary procedure) (use with 37230-37231)
  • Stent and atherectomy (and angioplasty): +37235 — … with transluminal stent placement(s) and atherectomy, includes angioplastywithin the same vessel, when performed (List separately in addition to code for primary procedure) (use with 37231).

The general rule for the revascularization codes is that you should report the one code that represents the most intensive service performed in a single…

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Pain Management: Is Headache Coding Giving You Headaches?

If your neurologist or pain specialist administers greater occipital nerve blocks, don’t let coding turn into a headache. Verify specifics about the patient’s headache and the service your provider offered to pinpoint the correct diagnosis and procedure codes every time. Our 4 questions will point you to the best diagnosis and injection codes.

Where Is the Occipital Nerve?

The greater occipital nerve (GON) originates from the posterior medial branch of the C2 spinal nerve and provides sensory innervations to the posterior area of the scalp extending to the top of the head. Physicians typically inject the GON at the level of the superior nuchal line just above the base of the skull for occipital headaches or neck pain.

Some physician practices include a small illustration in the chart that the physician can mark with various injection sites. Including this type of tool helps your physician clearly document the injection location, which helps you choose the correct nerve injection code and submit more accurate claims.

What Type of Headache Does the Patient Have?

Your physician’s documentation might include notes ranging from “occipital headache” to “occipital neuralgia” to “cervicogenic headache.” Your job is to ensure that you interpret the notes and assign the most accurate diagnosis.

Occipital headache: ICD-9’s alphabetic index does not include a specific listing for occipital headache. Because of this, report the general code 784.0 (Headache), which includes “Pain in head NOS.” More details in your provider’s notes might lead to diagnoses such as 307.81 (Tension headache), 339.00 (Cluster headaches), 339.1x (Tension type headache), or 346.xx (Migraine).

Occipital neuralgia: You have a more specific diagnosis to code when your provider documents occipital neuralgia. Greater occipital neuralgia produces an aching, burning, or throbbing pain or a tingling or numbness along the back of the head. You’ll report diagnosis 723.8…

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Modifiers 52 or 53? Prevent Denials By Making The Correct Choice

If you mistake modifiers 52 and 53 as one or the other because they’re both used for incomplete procedures, you’ll end up losing your reimbursement. Remember these two have extremely distinctive functions.

Consider a situation when the gastroenterologist performs an esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) to examine the lining of the esophagus, stomach, and upper duodenum of a patient as part of a GERD evaluation.

Suppose that while inserting the endoscope, the patient registers unstable vital signs. The gastroenterologist, then, decides it is not in the patient’s best interest to continue the procedure. You would report this on your claim using:

  • 43235 (Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy including esophagus, stomach, and either the duodenum and/or jejunum as appropriate; diagnostic, with or without collection of specimen[s] by brushing or washing [separate procedure]) for the EDG
  • Modifier 53 (Discontinued procedure) to show that the GI discontinued the EGD.

Other situations that would call for a discontinued procedure include respiratory distress (786.09), hypoxia (799.02), irregular heart rhythm (427.9), and others usually related to the sedation medications.

Modifier 53 Defined: Under certain circumstances, the physician may elect to terminate a surgical or diagnostic procedure. Due to extenuating circumstances, or those that threaten the well-being of the patient, it may be necessary to indicate that a surgical or diagnostic procedure was started but discontinued.

In addition, you shouldn’t disregard the importance of submitting documentation that shows:

  • that the physician began the procedure;
  • why the procedure was discontinued;
  • the percentage of the procedure performed.

Taking on the same scenario, the gastroenterologist begins the diagnostic EGD but stopped without examining the entire upper gastrointestinal tract because she encounters an obstructing lesion in the middle of the stomach. In this case, you should attach modifier 52 to the CPT, says Margaret Lamb, RHIT, CPC, of Great Falls Clinic…

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