tci ED Coding & Reimbursement Alert - 2020 Issue Q4

Reader Questions: Understand What Constitutes a Foreign Body

Question: An ED physician removed a piece of popcorn kernel from a patient’s tonsils. What are the best CPT®/ICD-10 codes to use in this encounter? Maine Subscriber Answer: In this situation, 42809 (Removal of foreign body from pharynx) is the correct code to report for the removal of the foreign body (FB). An item will typically meet the criteria for an FB if it’s not native to the respective anatomic site. If documentation supports billing separately, you can also code an E/M visit from the 99281-99285 (Emergency department visit for the evaluation and management of a...

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