Emergency

“My group takes call at our local hospital, and this necessitates seeing patients in the emergency room (ER) on occasion. We are not all in agreement regarding what E/M codes should be used in this scenario. We have come up with different encounters: -A patient seen in the ER. The patient is then discharged to follow up for outpatient care. -A patient is seen in the ER and then admitted for continued medical treatment. -A patient is seen in the ER and emergently taken straight to the operating room for surgical treatment. What E/M code series would you recommend using for these different scenarios? Thank you for the help!”

FDA Recalls September 22 - 27

“I had a patient call me worried about a possible diabetic foot infection. The patient has a history of below the knee amputation at the other limb and was panicked about the potential loss of limb. I worked them into the schedule that day and I am thinking about coding CPT 99058 in addition to the E/M code. Can I get paid for CPT 99058 and does it matter if the potential “infection” turned out to be not infected?”