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The Use of Delivery Codes by the Maternal Fetal Medicine Physician
The Use of Delivery Codes by the Maternal Fetal Medicine Physician

Important Tips: 1. It will be relatively rare for an MFM physician to bill global obstetric care, because some portion of the antepartum service will have typically been provided by an obstetrician unaffiliated withhis/her practice. The most common occasion in which it will occur is when an MFM... Continue Reading

Date posted12/31/2017


Billing of 76801 and/or 76813 with cfDNA screening
Billing of 76801 and/or 76813 with cfDNA screening

Cell-free fetal DNA (cfDNA) screening has enhanced the ability to offer early aneuploidy screeningin pregnancy. The purpose of this White Paper is to describe billing recommendations when cfDNAscreening is done or considered in conjunction with first trimester Nuchal Translucency screening(CPT... Continue Reading

Date posted11/9/2017


ICD-10-CM Changes for 2018
ICD-10-CM Changes for 2018

SMFM Coding CommitteeNewsletter Coding Tip – August 2017ICD-10-CM Changes for 2018With the adoption of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM), Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) specialists lost the opportunity to be specific in assigning... Continue Reading

Date posted08/31/2017


Use of the -22 modifier for complicated cerclage placement
Use of the -22 modifier for complicated cerclage placement

Cerclage placement may be indicated based on 1) obstetrical history of cervical insufficiency; 2) physical examination findings concerning for cervical insufficiency; or 3) for a history of preterm birth with ultrasound evidence of cervical shortening. In recent years, placement of exam or... Continue Reading

Date posted02/1/2017


Reporting Complications in Pregnancy When No Specific Codes Exists
Reporting Complications in Pregnancy When No Specific Codes Exists

One challenge for ICD-10-CM code selection for MFM is the presentation of symptoms or conditions for which a precise diagnosis code doesn’t exist. ICD-10-CM offers several categories and subcategories from which to choose. They are: O09.89- Supervision of other high risk... Continue Reading

Date posted12/1/2016


Perinatal Telemedicine
Perinatal Telemedicine

Telemedicine is the delivery of medical care or services from a distant site. Telemedicine provides two-way, communication between a patient and healthcare provider at a distant site. The communication is supported by audio and video equipment that allows a physician at the main hospital/office to... Continue Reading

Date posted10/31/2016


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


The Zika Virus
The Zika Virus

The Zika virus is a mosquito-borne virus that has been associated with congenital defects, primarily of the central nervous system. According to the CDC, clinicians should screen women who have traveled to known areas of Zika transmission. Pregnant women who report clinical illness consistent... Continue Reading

Date posted01/31/2016


Short cervix in the first trimester
Short cervix in the first trimester

Currently, there is no ICD-10 code for cervical shortening in the first trimester. However, the cervix could be short in the first trimester due to prior cervical procedures, congenital malformations, previously diagnosed cervical insufficiency, etc. In those situations, the suggested codes to... Continue Reading

Date posted11/30/2015


One of the biggest changes in ICD-10 conventions
One of the biggest changes in ICD-10 conventions

One of the biggest changes in ICD-10 conventions, compared to ICD-9, is the EXCLUDES note. In ICD-9, the alert was simply “EXCLUDES…”. In ICD-10, the alert has been expanded to accommodate two concepts: EXCLUDES 1 and EXCLUDES 2. Excludes 1 means NOT CODED HERE. The code(s)... Continue Reading

Date posted08/31/2015


The Boy Who Cried Wolf
The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Do you remember Aesop's Fables story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"? Many times the boy tells the villagers that a wolf is attacking his flock. He tells them so many times that one day when the wolf really is attacking, no one believes him. Does this sound a little like the government and ICD-10? ... Continue Reading

Date posted07/13/2015


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