tci Part B Insider - 2004 Issue 24

DEMENTIA ASSESSMENT: Don't Let History and Physical Drag Down Dementia Assessment Coding

Dementia is a broad diagnosis, and can come from a number of causes, including cardiovascular deterioration and alcoholism. Too often, patients are shoehorned into a diagnosis such as Alzheimer's disease without eliminating other possibilities, say experts. A psychiatrist or psychologist can make the initial diagnosis of dementia, but other physicians, such as neurologists, may have to narrow the diagnosis down further through a series of tests and evaluations. But unlike psychiatrists, who can bill a consult code or CPT 90801 (psychiatric diagnostic interview examination), other types of physicians are stuck billing an evaluation and management code. "Evaluating dementia once...

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