Wiki Billing a Subsequent for an initial hospital H&P

[az2tn@yahoo.com]

Hi All,
Does your facility allow you to code a subsequent(99231-99233)on the initial day of an inpatient hospital stay if there is not enough documentation in the H&P to support even the lowest initial inpatient code 99221?

 

[mdarling]

Why Subsequent

Why are you billing for a subsequent visit if it is an initial hospital admission date?

 

[az2tn@yahoo.com]

Why are you billing for a subsequent visit if it is an initial hospital admission date?

Because the H&P doesn't have all the documentation elements to support even the lowest level initial inpatient code.

 

[espressoguy]

Yes, it is appropriate to use the subsequent inpatient codes when the documentation doesn't support an initial inpatient code.

This is an older article (and the link to MLN Matters no longer works) but I don't believe anything has changed since then.

http://www.aapcps.com/news-articles/Low-Lev-Inpatient-Visit.aspx

 

[az2tn@yahoo.com]

Yes, it is appropriate to use the subsequent inpatient codes when the documentation doesn't support an initial inpatient code.

This is an older article (and the link to MLN Matters no longer works) but I don't believe anything has changed since then.

http://www.aapcps.com/news-articles/Low-Lev-Inpatient-Visit.aspx

Wow thank you!! This is exactly what I was looking for.