tci ED Coding & Reimbursement Alert - 2011 Issue 4

You Be the Coder: Comforting Dying Patient Is Not Critical Care

Question: A patient becomes unresponsive in the ED and the physician begins critical care. After 13 minutes of critical care, the family changes the code status to do not resuscitate (DNR). A morphine drip is started and the patient is allowed to slowly pass away without any interventions. For the next 20 minutes, the physician supports the patient with pain control and oxygen until she passes away. During this time, the physician is still documenting blood pressures, and injecting pain medication. Can this supportive time be considered critical care?Oregon SubscriberAnswer: Since the physician did not provide at least...

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