Keep your critical coding and billing tools with you no matter where you work.
Create your Find-A-Code account today!
tci Part B Insider - 2003 Issue 25
Inpatient Coding: 6 Common Mistakes With Same-Day Observation Admits and Discharges
Are you misusing 99234-99236? Find out hereMost coders understand the basics of handling patients who are admitted for observation and then discharged on the same day. You use 99234-99236 for the admission and discharge for a patient released the same day. But the devil is in the details, experts say. Here are some common mistakes coders make with same-day observation discharges: Forgetting the eight-hour rule. If a patient is kept for less than eight hours, Medicare will only pay for the admission, not the discharge. For such patients, you should bill 99218-99220 (Initial observation care ...) for...
To read the full article, sign in and subscribe to tci Part B Insider.
Keep pace with evolving Medicare regulations with timely analysis of critical updates interpreted in an easy-to-follow, easy-to-apply format. Your subscription to TCI’s Part B Insider will equip you to navigate code and guideline changes, CCI edits, and revisions to modifiers, the fee schedule, OIG target areas, and more.
Current newsletters added each month
Fully searchable archives - over 4800 articles
ALL years/issues back to 2003 organized by year and issue
Codes mentioned in articles are linked to Code Information pages
Code Information pages link back to related articles
This feature is currently unavailable for online purchase. For more information, please call 801-770-4203 or Contact Us.