Anesthesia Coding Alert

Preparation, eagle eye for mistakes can ease denial woes. A proper diagnosis and diagnosis code are key to your reimbursement claims. Yet on occasion, easy errors send a claim straight back to your practice. Check out two ways to reduce these denials. 1.Watch for Subtleties of Mismatched Diagnoses Reporting the correct diagnosis for a procedure is just as important as correctly coding the procedure.Some procedures have warning flags and a list of approved diagnoses, says Jann Lienhard, CPC, a coder in New Jersey. If the payer doesn't believe your diagnosis supports medical necessity of the procedure, the payer will deny your claim. Watch for these common diagnosis mistakes in your coding: • Not updating a pain management patient's diagnosis. For example, administering an epidural or blocks with a vague diagnosis such as "back pain" can result in quick denials. • Changes in an obstetric patient's status. For example, an expectant [...]