Flex/rigid Sigmoidoscopy Disparity Shouldn't Be Overlooked

By Author: erinarticle
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Here are some fresh know-how from these real life situations


Your gastroenterologist might use sigmoidoscopy to check up a patient for alternative conditions when she suspects irritable bowel syndrome; however there is more to the procedure than meets can be seen normally. Sigmoidoscopy expands to two types: flexible sigmoidoscopy (uses a flexible endoscope inserted in the anus to check the inner linings of the large intestine) and rigid sigmoidoscopy (has the same purpose but uses a rigid endoscope.


In coding between these two types, you'd have to adopt a keen eye to spot the difference. Preparation will play a big role in the success of billing the procedure. Here are three scenarios to test yourself:


First scenario: Recently, a gastroenterologist in our practice treated a patient with a diagnosis of proctitis and continuous rectal bleeding. The gastroenterologist carried out a sigmoidoscopy with biopsy during the first encounter. During the second encounter (which took 45 minutes), she infused formalin into the rectum in-office. What CPT codes should ...
... be used to bill for the formalin infusion and sigmoidoscopy?


Second scenario: When a gastroenterologist carries out a diagnostic sigmoidoscopy, followed by sigmoidoscopy with control of bleeding, can you report both codes for this encounter?


Third scenario: A patient required both a flexible sigmoidoscopy and a colonoscopy through stoma during the same visit to the office. How should you go about this scenario?
To get answers to these coding scenarios and to get specialty-specific articles to assist your gastroenterology coding, sign up for a good medical coding resource like Coding Institute.