ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Remember to leave 99217 off these claims.Observation coding conventions call for a code from the 99218-99220 (Initial observation care, per day, for the evaluation and management of a patient, which requires these 3 key components: ... ) code set for patients in the first day of observation if the service spans more than one calendar date.You should also call on these codes for certain single-day observation stays.When? If you are coding for a Medicare payer, opt for 99218-99220 when the observation lasts less than eight hours on the same calendar date, confirms from Jill M. Young, CPC, CEDC, CIMC, founder of Young Medical Consulting, LLC in East Lansing, Mich.According to Medlearn article MM5791 "Physicians and qualified NPPs should report Initial Observation Care using a code from CPT code range 99218-99220 when the observation care is less than 8 hours on the same calendar date.When you report the 99218-99220 codes for [...]