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Urology Coding Alert

Reader Questions:

Code Both Separate E/M and Debridement

Published on Fri Sep 18, 2009

Question: Can you charge for an inpatient consult and a bedside debridement on the same day? Louisiana Subscriber Answer: You can bill for both services as long as the E/M service goes beyond a simple assessment of the area to be treated. Remember to append modifier 25 (Significant, separately identifiable evaluation and management service by the same physician on the same day of the procedure or other service) to the inpatient consultation code (99251-99255, Inpatient consultation for a new or established patient ...) you report to inform the payer that the surgeon provided a separate E/M service above and beyond the E/M inherent to the debridement. Report a code from the 11040-11044 (Debridement ...) range, depending on the type and depth of debridement your physician performed. CPT codes 11040, 11041, and 11043 have zero-day globals, while CPT codes 11043 and 11044 have 10-day globals. Diagnosis help: When you use modifier [...]
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