Eli's Rehab Report
Report Ice, Heat as Same Code
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Question: A patient came in with an injured foot, and the physiatrist gave him an ice pack at first to reduce swelling. Then later in the visit, he gave the patient a hot pack to relax the muscle. Application of both the cold pack and the hot pack is coded as 97010, so can we bill this code twice? - You Be the Coder and Reader Questions were reviewed by Laureen Jandroep, OTR, CPC, CCS-P, CPC-H, CCS, director and senior instructor for the CRN Institute, an online coding certification training center.
Illinois Subscriber
Answer: The code definition for 97010 states, "application of a modality to one or more areas; hot or cold packs." Because the definition includes both hot and cold packs to one or more regions, it should be billed only once per visit, regardless of the time involved or the temperature of the packs applied. This therapy does not require direct one-on-one patient contact by the provider.
Eli's Rehab Report
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Report Ice, Heat as Same Code
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