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[tonyahawkins]

I have a question regarding preemies. A preemie born of VLBW. Are they automatically placed in NICU? And if so, would the consulting physcian use critical care codes instead of consult codes?

 

[FTessaBartels]

Consultant bills consult

The NICU codes are for 24-hour care and are usually coded by the neonatologist who oversees the unit.

If you are talking about the physician who is overseeing the overall care of the VLBW neonate in the NICU ... 99477 is for the first day; 99478-99480 are for subsequent days (depending on weight on date of service). If the neonate is critically ill separate and above the VLBW, the codes to use would be 99468-99469.

If you are talking about any other physician seeing the infant in the NICU, you would code the appropriate E/M service - consultation or subsequent hospital visit - depending on documentation.

F Tessa Bartels, CPC, CEMC