tci ED Coding & Reimbursement Alert - 2012 Issue 11

Reader Question: When does aspiration becomes drainage?

Question: A patient presented to the ED with a peritonsillar abscess (PTA) and underwent a needle aspiration to confirm the presence of pus in the tissues. During this procedure, the physician determined that the abscess could be drained completely with the needle aspiration. He subsequently used an 18-gauge spinal needle and aspirated the pus with a 10-cc syringe. When attempting to bill for this, I noticed that the only codes addressing a PTA involve "incision and drainage." What code is best used to bill an aspiration without an incision?California Subscriber Answer: If no incision was made, you...

To read the full article, sign in and subscribe to tci ED Coding & Reimbursement Alert.


You have ED coding questions, and we deliver money-in-the-bank answers to help you defeat your claim issues and secure optimal reimbursement.

Stay in the know and avoid federal reproach with your subscription to TCI’s ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert.

  • Current newsletters added each month
  • Fully searchable archives - over 2100 articles
  • ALL years/issues back to 1998 organized by year and issue
  • Codes mentioned in articles are linked to Code Information pages
  • Code Information pages link back to related articles
Access to this feature is available in the following products:
  • tci ED Coding & Reimbursement Alert +Archives

demo
request yours today
 subscribe
start today
 newsletter
free subscription

Thank you for choosing Find-A-Code, please Sign In to remove ads.