lmoura
New
I understand that once a patient has completed all definitive treatment (chemo, radiation, drug therapy) and there is no sign of the active disease or recurrence then the documentation and coding should be Hx of Cancer.
However, my physicians are asking about time - if a patient did not have surgery and just had chemo or radiation is there a time factor after treatment is stopped before they code as Hx of if the patient is still being screened on a monthly basis to determine that there is no recurrence as cancer can recurr several months later after treatment stops.
Should they automatically code as Hx of immediately after the treatment ends and the initial screening for cancer is negative even though in 4 or 5 months a cancer screening can come back positive or is there a time period to still code active cancer before coding Hx of?
Any help would be appreciated.
However, my physicians are asking about time - if a patient did not have surgery and just had chemo or radiation is there a time factor after treatment is stopped before they code as Hx of if the patient is still being screened on a monthly basis to determine that there is no recurrence as cancer can recurr several months later after treatment stops.
Should they automatically code as Hx of immediately after the treatment ends and the initial screening for cancer is negative even though in 4 or 5 months a cancer screening can come back positive or is there a time period to still code active cancer before coding Hx of?
Any help would be appreciated.