Gastroenterology Coding Alert

Concentrate on the full picture for maximum ethical reimbursement. If your gastroenterologist treats patients with Crohn's disease (ileitis or regional enteritis), you'll need to be very careful to look at diagnosis, management, and the treatment to appropriately report your physician's care. Here is a quick refresher to help guide your Crohn's disease coding. Use Consult Codes for Initial Visits In most instances, a patient with Crohn's disease will usually present to your gastroenterologist's practice as a referral patient from their primary care physician. "If documentation states that the intent of the visit is for an opinion or advice about the patient's condition, then use consultation codes appropriate for the place of service," says Heather Copen, RHIT, CCS-P, Financial Advocate-Goshen OB/GYN and Goshen GI, IU Health-Goshen Physicians, Goshen, Indiana. This initial visit should be considered as a consultation and should be reported using appropriate consultation codes 99241-99245 (Office consultation for a [...]