The Duke University Health System in Durham, North Carolina, has more than 1,200 inpatient beds, handles two million outpatient visits annually, and serves as one of the country’s leading research institutions. As the director of revenue and documentation integrity at Duke Health, Garland Goins, MBA is tasked with structuring its complex revenue integrity department.
To ensure you and your team have the most recent coding and billing guidance related to the novel coronavirus public health emergency, regularly check these official resources.
CMS released a new point of origin code for patients transferred from alternate care sites established during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency. The new code “G” (transfer from a designated disaster alternative care site [ACS]) is effective July 1, according to Transmittal 10178.
Q: Under the introductory section of the CPT Manual’s Organ or Disease-Oriented Panels section, third paragraph, it is stated, "Do not report two or more panel codes that include any of the same constituent tests performed from the same patient collections." I am seeking clarification as to whether this literally means the same blood specimen collection or if it more generally means the same date of service (DOS) collection. In the hospital setting sometimes constituent tests are performed on the same DOS on an outpatient encounter, so it might lead one to report an applicable panel code. However, sometimes the constituents are not ordered at the same time, and the tests might be run from separate blood specimens drawn at different times, but still on the same DOS. Is there any guidance or reference that could clarify this?
