Our “You Code It!” article asked you to assign codes to the following scenario assuming that the patient’s health plan pays for services reported with Current Procedural Terminology (CPT ®) consultation codes
Dr German provided 5 hospital services to the patient who was diagnosed with septic arthritis of the right knee due to methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA). The procedure and diagnosis codes are as shown in the Table.
Each consultation included the required request for advice or opinion from another physician, qualified health care professional, or other appropriate source; evaluation of the patient with development of treatment recommendations; and a written report in the shared medical record.
However, CPT instructs the following regarding the other services provided by Dr German:
Based on this, only the initial visit provided during this admission is a consultation. Each of the services provided for management of the infection and for additional advice...