decisionhealth Newsletters, Coder Pink Sheets - 2017 Issue 10 (October)
Understanding E/M: CPT 2018 updates observation codes, critical care, adds behavioral health
Subscribe or sign in to view the full article.
Article Overview
This article explains a set of CPT 2018 changes that affect hospital observation reporting, critical care-related guidance, and behavioral health integration services. It is intended for coders, billing staff, compliance teams, and clinical practices that need to track coding updates, related guideline revisions, and the transition between existing and newly added reporting options. The discussion focuses on what changed at a high level, which code families are involved, and how the update is structured across outpatient observation, critical care, transport, and behavioral health service categories.
Why This Topic Matters
These updates can affect how organizations interpret revised CPT guidance, map services to the correct evaluation and management categories, and prepare for code set changes tied to annual updates. Understanding the scope of the changes helps practices anticipate documentation, workflow, and reporting impacts.
Article Sections
-
Observation care updates
Discusses revisions to outpatient hospital observation-related guidance and descriptors for hospital observation services.
-
Critical care and chest X-ray code changes
Summarizes changes tied to critical care reporting, including the treatment of chest imaging codes and replacement planning within the code set.
-
Neonatal and pediatric critical care guidance
Explains new guidance for inpatient neonatal and pediatric critical care and the relationship between different types of same-day reporting.
-
Behavioral health integration
Introduces a new behavioral health integration reporting option and notes its relationship to an existing HCPCS code and payment update context.
What You Will Learn
- How CPT 2018 updated certain outpatient hospital observation service references
- What changed in the critical care-related section of the code set
- How neonatal and pediatric critical care guidance was clarified
- How behavioral health integration reporting was addressed in the update
- Which categories of services were affected by annual code and guideline revisions
Who Should Read This
- Medical coders
- Billing and reimbursement staff
- Compliance professionals
- Anesthesia providers
- Hospital outpatient departments
- Behavioral health practices
Codes Discussed
Code Ranges Discussed
Subscribe or sign in to view the full article.
Quick, Current, Complete - www.findacode.com