ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

CCI also wraps up E/M, counseling codes.The correct coding initiative (CCI) version 17.1 arrived earlier this month with several bundles relevant to ED coders. Check out this rundown of the CCI edits so you can submit spot-on claims each time.Break rhythm strip bundle with modifierThe newest CCI bundles 93010 (Electrocardiogram, routine ECG with at least 12 leads; interpretation and report only) as well as 93042 (Rhythm ECG, 1-3 leads; with interpretation and report only) with 92950 (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation [e.g., in cardiac arrest]), confirms Michael Granovsky, MD, CPC, FACEP, president of MRSI, an ED coding and billing company in Woburn, Mass. There are, however, some exceptional circumstances in which you could unbundle the two codes with modifier 59 (Distinct procedural service), Granovsky confirms.When? "You could report both codes if you had a patient that presented initially with chest pain and required an EKG that later, after those interpretations were performed, subsequently crashed [...]