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Journalists working on stories related to high-risk pregnancies or the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine can contact Greg Phillips, Director of Communications, at press@smfm.org for referrals to MFM experts and to request additional information. The press office is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM ET.

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Report umbilical cord and certain placental issues that occur in the antepartum period
Report umbilical cord and certain placental issues that occur in the antepartum period

The International Classification of Disease, 10th edition (ICD-10-CM), has a specific code category for umbilical cord complications (O69). However, the use of codes from this category is limited to the labor and delivery period. Using codes from this category during the antepartum period,... Continue Reading

Date posted07/31/2019


Services billable outside of Global Obstetric
Services billable outside of Global Obstetric

The global maternity care package includes all the services normally provided in uncomplicated maternity cases. There are services that may or may not relate to the pregnancy which are outside of the Global OB care and should be reported separately. These include but not limited... Continue Reading

Date posted12/31/2018


How to code for an interval delivery in twins
How to code for an interval delivery in twins

Twin gestations may deliver on the same day or there may be a time interval between the delivery of the first and second twins. Which ICD-10 to associate with the delivery will depend on whether the twins are delivered on the same day or on separate days, and whether they are both born alive or if... Continue Reading

Date posted07/1/2018


ICD-10-CM sequencing guidelines for Delivery
ICD-10-CM sequencing guidelines for Delivery

ccording to the ICD-10cm official guidelines for coding and reporting (fiscal year 2018) Chapter 15: pregnancy, Childbirth and the Puerperium; section 4. (e.g., page 19 of 117), if multiple conditions prompted the admission, sequence the one most related to the delivery as the principal... Continue Reading

Date posted02/28/2018


New ICD-10 Codes for Gestational Diabetes and Pre-eclampsia in postpartum
New ICD-10 Codes for Gestational Diabetes and Pre-eclampsia in postpartum

Gestational Diabetes ICD-10 Codes: New codes have been added to indicate when gestational diabetes (diabetes that starts during pregnancy) is controlled by oral hypoglycemic drugs, during pregnancy, childbirth or in the puerperium: O24.415 Gestational diabetes mellitus in pregnancy, controlled... Continue Reading

Date posted09/30/2016


Submitting claims for inpatient E/M visits with multiple providers involved
Submitting claims for inpatient E/M visits with multiple providers involved

In many cases, MFM providers may only be involved in the management of a pregnant patient but do not perform the actual delivery. Typically, the delivery codes that are used to submit a claim after delivery include complete global services (Admission, delivery management, postpartum care, and... Continue Reading

Date posted07/1/2016


Billing for inpatient visits with multiple providers involved
Billing for inpatient visits with multiple providers involved

Certain MFM providers may only bill fee for service in the management of a pregnant patient but do not do the actual delivery. Typically, all delivery codes include global services upon delivery (Admission, delivery management, postpartum care, and discharge). When this occurs, unbundling then... Continue Reading

Date posted05/31/2016


Billing for multiple providers managing high-risk patients
Billing for multiple providers managing high-risk patients

Nationwide, there are MFM providers who only bill fee for service in the management of a pregnant patient including delivery planning but do not actually deliver. Unfortunately, all delivery codes include global services upon delivery (Admission, delivery management and the discharge). When this... Continue Reading

Date posted04/30/2016


Correct assignments for hypertension
Correct assignments for hypertension

For correct code assignment, it is important to determine whether the hypertension is a pre-existing or a gestational condition. Pre-existing hypertension is classified to category O10, Pre-existing hypertension complicating pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium, as... Continue Reading

Date posted12/31/2015


Non-Physician Providers in Maternal Fetal Medicine
Non-Physician Providers in Maternal Fetal Medicine

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have reported a projected decrease in the workforce over the next two decades.1 This anticipated change in supply and demand is correlated with the demographic changes among physicians and patients, the aging population, and the relatively... Continue Reading

Date posted06/17/2015


New Codes Effective January 1, 2014
New Codes Effective January 1, 2014

99446 Interprofessional telephone/Internet assessment and management service provided by a consultative physician including a verbal and written report to the patient's treating/requesting physician or other qualified health care professional; 5-10 minutes of medical consultative discussion and... Continue Reading

Date posted11/30/2013


Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing
Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing

A variety of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) analysis methods have been developed to test for fetal trisomies in maternal blood. These tests fall into two categories: · Random Sequencing and · Directed DNA Analysis. Random sequencing analyzes a random subset of cfDNA... Continue Reading

Date posted06/30/2013