Gastroenterology Coding Alert

Make sure you specify type. Diagnosing dysphagia is often not cause for alarm among gastroenterology practices. Occasional difficulty in swallowing may simply occur when you eat too fast or don't chew your food well enough. But persistent difficulty in swallowing may indicate a serious medical condition requiring treatment. For diagnostic gastroenterology, dysphagia is considered as an important symptom for diseases of the esophagus. If you're not careful enough, you might get lost on the sea of options available in reporting dysphagia diagnoses and procedure. Draw up more reserved ammo by keeping in mind these 3 tips. 1. Fit Diagnosis to Its Proper Type Physicians usually direct patients who complain about any type of upper throat swallowing problem to a speech-language pathologist (SLP) for an appropriate swallow evaluation. SLPs are the ones who actually diagnose dysphagia, determine what type (oral, pharyngeal, or oropharyngeal) and develop a treatment plan, says Christine Lundblad, [...]