Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Breathe New Life into Your Respiratory Coding With CPT 2010

If you flip through the Surgery/Respiratory System section of your CPT coding manual, you will see the coding committee has been hard at work adding to and revising your options. Find out the added cath removal code, the all new fibrinolytic agent instillation code, and the reshaped bronchoscopy descriptors so that your coding remains ship shape all through this year.

Put an end to your hunt for 32550’s removal code match

Till now, CPT has offered insertion code 32550, however you have been left in the lurch for removal, using either an E/M or unlisted code.

CPT 2010 added new code 32552 to solve this problem.

Tube trivia: In the beginning, when code 32550 was created, an indwelling tunneled pleural catheter with cuff was inserted for drainage and management of malignant pleural effusions at the end of a patient’s life; as such, the removal of the catheter wasn’t included in the valuation of 32550.

Do not fall for multiple 32561 unit temptation

CPT 2010 also adds two new codes to describe instilling a fibrinolytic agent. Remember that CPT divides them based on initial and subsequent day.

Important point: According to CPT guidelines, limit your 32561 coding to once on the initial day and limit 32562 to one unit on each subsequent treatment day. This rule holds true even if the doctor instills a fibrinolytic agent multiple times during the day. If you are having trouble getting the units correct, take a few minutes to create a reminder for yourself.

Bronchoscopy codes include fluro

You should be aware of the changes that CPT’s respiratory system should be aware of.

New code alert: Among the revised CPT codes are two new codes. First is 31626.

If your practice bears the cost of the markers, you can report them separately. For detailed information on CPT coding, sign up http://www.supercoder.com/.

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