tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2005 Issue 6

READER QUESTIONS: Stick With POS 21 for Inpatient

Question: We rushed a patient into surgery from the emergency department. The surgeon admitted the patient to the hospital until after the surgery. Should I use POS 21 or 23 for the surgery claim?Florida Subscriber Answer: Remember that the hospital admission code (initial inpatient care) includes all the physician's treatment on the given date of service, starting with the very first hour of the visit. Therefore, the appropriate inpatient care code will cover the time spent in the ED. You should use POS 21 (Inpatient hospital) for any initial care the surgeon performed in the ED as well...

To read the full article, sign in and subscribe to tci General Surgery Coding Alert.

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