Is your ED making costly coding errors?
Is your ED making costly coding errors?
Beware of mistakes regarding facility procedures
Here is a list of common coding errors or omissions of facility procedures, identified by Caral Edelberg, CPC, CCS-P, president and CEO of Jacksonville, FL-based Medical Management Resources/TeamHealth:
- failure to accurately identify facility levels consistent with written criteria;
- coding of simple instead of intermediate laceration repairs;
- coding of simple instead of complicated incision and drainage;
- failure to identify separately identifiable procedures accurately (e.g., fractures, dislocations, splints, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, infusions, and injections);
- coding for intravenous administration and fluids with the wrong codes or omitting them entirely;
- omission of coding for intramuscular antibiotics;
- improper use of the -25 modifier and other facility-required modifiers, without which claims are suspended or denied;
- listing diagnostic tests under the wrong revenue center;
- errors in reporting multiple visits on the same calendar day to the emergency department;
- omitting an appropriate facility level when billing facility procedures.
Subscribe Now for Access
You have reached your article limit for the month. We hope you found our articles both enjoyable and insightful. For information on new subscriptions, product trials, alternative billing arrangements or group and site discounts please call 800-688-2421. We look forward to having you as a long-term member of the Relias Media community.