Authors: The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) Coding Committee; Trisha Malisch, CCS-P, CPC; Steve Rad, MD, FACOG. A long-standing rule in the world of coding is the definition of new and established patients for the purpose of assigning office/other outpatient Evaluation and Management... Continue Reading
Author(s): The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) Coding Committee; Brad Hart, MBA, MS, CPC, CPMA, COBGC. Background: The ICD-10-CM diagnosis code book provides in Chapter 15 (codes O00-O9A) a broad variety of diagnoses related to pregnancy—both pregnancy-specific diagnoses and... Continue Reading
Authors: The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) Coding Committee; Steve Rad, MD, FACOG; Brad Hart, MBA, MS, CPC, CPMA, COBGC; Vanita Jain, MD, FACOG. Background: First trimester screening includes biochemical markers, fetal nuchal translucency (NT) assessment via ultrasound (CPT 76813;... Continue Reading
In our fast-paced world, it sometimes seems there is simply not enough time in a day to get everything done. For the Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist encountering a patient whose care requires longer than the usual visit, time can seem like a “no-win” situation. There is a way to... Continue Reading
In the November 2021 issue of the American Journal of Perinatology, ICD-10 indications for Fetal Echocardiogram and Detailed First Trimester Obstetric Ultrasound were published. The abstract was authored by the SMFM Coding Committee and is based on indications published by AIUM and other national... Continue Reading
Coding Tip: Ultrasound Storage of Images and Documentation Within Reports Complete documentation of work performed is a central tenet of optimal care and communication between medical teams. The ultrasound report serves as an instrument of communication between providers and acts as... Continue Reading
If a patient has a diagnosis of obesity (BMI ≥ 30) O99.21__ (obesity complicating pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium) is an accepted indication for a detailed fetal anatomy survey (CPT 76811) according to published guidelines. To determine BMI in a pregnancy affected by obesity, we... Continue Reading
Effective April 1, 2022, there is a new series of ICD-10 codes for COVID-19 (Z28.31__) that was created to indicate that a patient is unvaccinated or ‘under-immunized’. There is also a new code (effective 4/1/2022) to identify patients who are ‘under-immunized’ status for... Continue Reading
In response to recent questions, this month’s Coding Tip is focused upon updating coding guidance for when a PR interval is performed. This Coding Tip is an update from prior guidance on this topic published in July 2017. The PR interval is often performed in attempt to identify early forms... Continue Reading
The SMFM Coding Committee received a recent inquiry regarding the usage of ICD-10 codes O09.512 and O09.522 when submitting charges after completing a 76811 exam on nulliparous and multiparous AMA patients in the second trimester. It was communicated that this family of ICD-10 codes used for this... Continue Reading
The Coding Committee recently received a question regarding how to bill for Genetic Counselors within the MFM practice. The Committee felt this was an opportune time to review coding & billing practices in this scenario. Coding for Genetic Counselors is not uniform across states and... Continue Reading
In ICD-10 trimester-based coding is utilized to identify the trimester during the encounter. Instructions about obstetric trimester-based billing is found in Chapter 15. The CMS and the NCHS (within the US Federal Government’s DHHS) provides these instructions in their ICD-10 CM manual. ... Continue Reading
