tci Part B Insider - 2003 Issue 25

Inpatient Coding: 6 Common Mistakes With Same-Day Observation Admits and Discharges

Are you misusing 99234-99236? Find out hereMost coders understand the basics of handling patients who are admitted for observation and then discharged on the same day. You use 99234-99236 for the admission and discharge for a patient released the same day. But the devil is in the details, experts say. Here are some common mistakes coders make with same-day observation discharges:  Forgetting the eight-hour rule. If a patient is kept for less than eight hours, Medicare will only pay for the admission, not the discharge. For such patients, you should bill 99218-99220 (Initial observation care ...) for...

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