ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Code repairs that occur in same area separately -- sometimes. Patients often report to the ED with multiple lacerations -- and coding will vary depending on several factors. Remember: The location and type of closure will tell you whether to add [the repairs] together or use separate codes, says Kevin Arnold, CPC, business manager for the Emergency Medicine Department at Connecticuts Norwalk Hospital. Check out these brief case studies so you can cut to the quick when coding more than one laceration fix on the same patient. Case 1: Cuts of the Same Severity, Location The first step in coding multi-laceration repairs is to look to the type of closures; if they are the same type & and both repairs are located in the same anatomical location, then you would add them together, explains Arnold. For example, the ED physician performs a 2.1 cm intermediate repair on a patients left ear, and [...]