Otolaryngology Coding Alert

You must not overlook signs and symptoms in documentation.When a patient presents with signs and symptoms indicative of thyroid dysfunction, the otolaryngologist would likely order a thyroid function study to determine the presence or absence of hormonal abnormalities. However, the provider should not perform these tests without the presence of at least some supporting signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism or thyroid cyst. The otolaryngologist should suspect a thyroid disease only if an aspect of a patient's condition could be accounted for by this disease.Documenting the appropriate signs and symptoms means a lot to get your billing on the right track. But the whole process should not end there. While keeping your coding proficiency at par can be a real challenge, you can rise above it if you stick to these two basic guidelines.1. Ensure Medical Necessity of the TestCPT® guidelines affirms that thyroid function testing is medically necessary in [...]