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Pulmonology Coding Alert

9922x versus 9923x:

Initial Care Isn't Always A Shoo-In On Same-Day Postdischarge

Published on Mon Jun 01, 2009

Tip: Find out the reason for readmission before you code. Myth: Once you discharge a patient from the hospital, any subsequent readmission counts as a new hospital stay. Reality: If you discharge and readmit the patient on the same day, you may have to code the second E/M as subsequent hospital care, depending on the readmission reason. Suppose a patient is admitted on March 1 and discharged on the morning of March 8. Later that day (March 8), the patient is readmitted to the hospital. The quandary: Can you report both the discharge and a hospital care code? Should you report 99239 (Hospital discharge day management; more than 30 minutes) for the discharge and 99223 (Initial hospital care, per day, for the evaluation and management of a patient, which requires these 3 key components: a comprehensive history; a comprehensive examination; and medical decision making of high complexity) for the readmission [...]
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