tci ED Coding & Reimbursement Alert - 2000 Issue 3

Avoid Denials by Coding Symptoms Supporting Medical Necessity of Flu Visits

Emergency departments (EDs) across the country have been overwhelmed in the last few months with flu patients. People without regular physicians or whose symptoms become too severe to wait to see their primary-care physician end up in the ED waiting room complaining of nausea, fever, aches and pains. ED coders should be careful when assigning ICD-9 codes for the evaluation and management visits and ensure that they only code what is justified in the medical record. In most cases, I code the signs and symptoms the patient is experiencing unless the diagnosis influenza is actually written in the chart...

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