Pulmonology Coding Alert

Check documentation for parameters recorded to improve reporting accuracy. When your pulmonologist performs sleep studies, staging of sleep and parameters that your pulmonologist records drives your reporting for the procedure. Check our guidance that follows to improve your coding skills for a sleep study. Discern Sleep Studies from Polysomnography Understanding subtle differences between sleep studies and polysomnography (PSG) will aid your code selection. "Sleep studies and polysomnography refer to a continuous and simultaneous monitoring and recording of various physiological and pathophysiological parameters of sleep for six or more hours with physician review, interpretation and report," says Mary Mulholland, MHA, RN, CPC, with University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia. These studies will help your pulmonologist assess the patient for sleep disorders and the response to certain therapies (such as CPAP) initiated to overcome these disorders. Staging is your key: Note that polysomnography tests will usually require your pulmonologist to stage [...]