Wiki Need help on coding hospital visits for my

[JENNIFERNMA]

Hey All,

I had a question about billing a hospital visit. My physiatrist saw a patient in January in the hospital who had spinal stenosis and needed a laminectomy. Patient was again admitted in April because she had weakness. Is this considered an initial visit or subsequent???

 

[MarcusM]

initial visit for weakness, in my opinion.

http://www.novitas-solutions.com/webcenter/content/conn/UCM_Repository/uuid/dDocName:00024318

•
Initial Hospital Care
o
First hospital inpatient encounter with the patient
•
Subsequent Hospital Care
o
Encounters typically after the initial and before discharge

 

[JENNIFERNMA]

Thank you so much for your answer. I thought so too but wasnt sure. Hate second guessing myself lol. Tx again!

 

[mssalemny]

New vs established doesn't apply to hospital visits . It would be an initial hospital visit.

 

[dixechik]

Everytime you are admitted to the hospital, it is an initial visit for first day and then the days to follow would be subsequent visits and ending with your discharge.