Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Capture annual screening opportunity with this V code. If your labs physician clients order screening Pap smears every year, you might be missing pay for many tests. Make sure you know when your payer will cover the test and how to report it-- to avoid Pap test denials. Know Risk Level Although screening Paps are for patients without signs or symptoms of disease, Medicare and many other payers further distinguish these patients based on their risk of acquiring cervical cancer. Low-risk patients are women of child-bearing age or post-menopausal women who do not exhibit any risk factors associated with the high-risk group. Do this: To classify a patient as high-risk, use V15.89 (Other specified personal history presenting hazards to health; other). The ordering physician should supply a secondary diagnosis to explain why the patient is high-risk. The diagnoses include: " history of HIV (V08 or 042) " history of sexually [...]