Use these FAQs to achieve level 5.
A patient reports to the emergency department in such severe respiratory distress that she cannot communicate during the history of present illness (HPI) portion of the E/M service. The patient also presents to...
Watch It: If you fly through FAST exam coding, you could miss vital info When your physician performs a FAST (focused assessment by sonography for trauma) examination, be sure to go through the notes slowly or you could miss one of the three common codes. FAST exam patients are almost always in some physical trauma, which requires [...] Related articles:
Question: A 42-year-old patient reports to the ED early on Tuesday morning for evaluation of uncontrollable shaking in her extremities and severe pain in her neck. The EP admits the patient to observation at 7 a.m. and orders blood tests and a CT scan — however, the shaking continues to worsen. The EP consults with a [...] Related articles:
No maybes here: Answer this question wrong and you will code incorrectly. When your ED physician performs fracture care for a patient, be ready to pounce on evidence of manipulation, as CPT often breaks fracture care codes along the manipulation line. The $kinny: Let’s say the physician performs closed treatment on a fractured collarbone; if she uses [...] Related articles: