Forum - Questions & Answers
wound packing and draining
If an established patient is seen in the ER for staph infection and then sees his MD for daily wound packing and draining only (no debridement and no post-surgical status), would the wound packing be covered under an E/M code or is there a CPT code that I just cannot find?
Thank you!
Supplies are covered
in the E&M. The coding experts will have to address the issue of global periods. Since the ED doc billed for the I&D, she is subject to the 10 day global period. If you bill an E&M with the same diagnosis code you should be paid but I could see an insurer deny it saying that they paid the surgeon for the post-op care (and I am sure she did not use the modifier for surgery only). And daily visits may raise an eyebrow so be sure the notes justify the frequency.
Packing included in E/M.
The global applies to ER doc. If there was no transfer of post-op care, then E/M should be fine for 1x visit. If PCP does all post-op care for 10 days, then could be an issue.