CodingIntel

Medical coding resources for physicians and their staff. CodingIntel was founded by consultant and coding expert Betsy Nicoletti.

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Everyday Coding Q&A

Follow this route to get your questions answered!

You have questions, we have answers. We will be taking the questions we receive from you and posting answers on a monthly basis. Do you have a question whose answer would benefit fellow physicians, coders, or staff as well as yourself? Send it to info@codingintel.com.

Billing inpatient consultation for Medicare patients | Initial visit or subsequent

Question: What should a consulting physician bill when seeing a hospitalized Medicare patient? An initial hospital service or a subsequent hospital … [Read more...]

Critical Care Services Rule | Two physicians billing for same time period

Question: Where does it say in CPT® that two physicians can’t bill for the same period of time when performing critical care? Answer: It … [Read more...]

Are start and stop times required for non face-to-face prolonged care services?

Question: Regarding non face-to-face prolonged care, does Medicare require start and stop times, they way they do for prolonged face-to-face care? … [Read more...]

Are subsequent hospital or office visits prior to surgery billable?

Question:  Are the surgeon’s subsequent hospital visits or office visits between their original consult and the final visit prior to surgery … [Read more...]

Coding for biopsy | Should we wait for a pathology report?

Question: Should we always wait for the pathology report before submitting a code for a biopsy? Answer: Sometimes. Wait for the pathology … [Read more...]

Age and wellness visits | Eligibility for Welcome to Medicare

Question: Does the patient need to be 65 years old in order to bill the Welcome to Medicare Visit? Answer: This is almost a trick question. … [Read more...]

Teaching physician rules | Bedside procedures

Question: Can an attending bill for a bedside procedure that a resident did without the attending being present? If so, is this billed at 85% like … [Read more...]

Can two practices split the post-op office care of a patient?

Question:  Can two practices split the post-op office care of a patient? Answer:     No. Although the operative and post-operative portions of the … [Read more...]

Scoring MDM in an E/M Note

This article relates to the 1995/1997 documentation guidelines, and not to office/outpatient codes 99202--99215 in 2021. Question: I have a … [Read more...]

Teaching Physician and Resident Specialty | Medicare Teaching Physician Rules

Question: Can a teaching physician from one specialty supervise a resident in a different specialty. Answer: Although CMS updated the rules … [Read more...]

Prolonged services and nursing home visits

Question: Prolonged Services and nursing home visits. I'm getting a "Code 99358 is a column 2 code for 99309, these codes cannot be billed … [Read more...]

Wound Care CPT® Codes 11042 and 29580

Wound care CPT® Codes 11042 and 29580 Question: Our wound care physician billed for debriding a wound on the right foot and applied an Unna boot … [Read more...]

Can we bill for IUD removal and insertion on the same day?

Question: Can I bill 58301 for IUD removal and bill 58300 for IUD insertion on the same day, if the provider removes and then inserts another IUD? … [Read more...]

Determining new or established patient codes| CPT® Rules

Question: A physician wrote: “We have a cosmetic treatment center that is separate from our surgical clinic. I have seen a patient in the cosmetic … [Read more...]

Reporting Excision of Multiple Lesions of the Same Size

Question: The doctor I work with excised two benign lesions from a patient’s arm, of the same length.  Do I add them together and report one code? … [Read more...]

Diagnosis Coding for Tick Bites

Question: Why is it so hard to code for a tick bite? And, how is it coded? Answer: The provider searches for the word “tick” and in many … [Read more...]

Psychotherapy Documentation Guidelines | Time

Question: Is it okay to use the time description in the order as the documentation of the psychotherapy time?  The therapist selects 90832, … [Read more...]

Pessary Cleaning and Re-insertion

Question: Can we bill code 57160 when a patient comes in for a pessary cleaning? Answer: No, report an E/M service based on the key … [Read more...]

Meatloaf says, “2 out of 3 ain’t bad” | E/M Documentation Guidelines

Question: When selecting an E/M service for an established patient, does medical decision making need to be one of the determining … [Read more...]

Documenting time for moderate sedation of 15 minutes

Question: When my doctor personally performs moderate sedation of 15 minutes, does he/she need to document the time in the … [Read more...]

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Looking for training on the new E/M Guidelines for 2021?

"Documentation Essentials for Codes 99202-99215 in 2021" is now available!

Take the two hour course on-demand, or sign up for one of our live events with Q&A.

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Latest Intel

Coding for laceration repair, two visits on the same day

Question In our urgent care center, our … Read More...

HCC Coding for Medical Practices | Webinar

HCC Coding for Medical Practices April 15, 2021 @ … Read More...

Coding for Behavioral Health Services by Psychologists, Social Workers and Therapists

Looking for a coding resource for behavioral … Read More...

2021 E/M office visit scenarios

Need help using the 2021 E/M guidelines? What … Read More...

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Our mission is to provide accurate, comprehensive, up-to-date coding information, allowing medical practices to increase revenue, decrease coding denials and reduce compliance risk. That's what coding knowledge can do.

In 1988, CodingIntel.com founder Betsy Nicoletti started a Medical Services Organization for a rural hospital, supporting physician practice. She has been a self-employed consultant since 1998. She estimates that in the last 20 years her audience members number over 28,400 at in person events and webinars. She has had 2,500 meetings with clinical providers and reviewed over 43,000 medical notes. She knows what questions need answers and developed this resource to answer those questions. For more about Betsy visit www.betsynicoletti.com.

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