Reader Questions:
No Abortion, No Global
Published on Tue Aug 02, 2005
Question: I am new to ob-gyn coding. What diagnosis should I use for a patient who is coming in for bleeding two weeks after a legal total abortion? We did not perform the abortion.
Nebraska Subscriber Answer: The code would be 639.1 (Complications following abortion and ectopic and molar pregnancies; delayed or excessive hemorrhage). In this case, coding to the fourth digit is specific enough, so don't stress about not having a fifth digit.
Because your ob-gyn did not perform the procedure, his services would not be in the global period, therefore you can code the visit without appending any modifiers to the appropriate CPT codes.
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