Question

Patient arrives in the physician's office for exacerbation of asthma. During the wait to see the physician, the patient experiences extreme SOB and goes into respiratory arrest. The physician examines the patient, begins IV meds, and continues treating the patient until an ambulance arrives. Time documented treating the patient is 45 minutes.

A. 99215
B. 99288
C. 99291
D. 99289

Answer 1

The correct answer is C. 99291. Code 99291 is used for critical care services provided by a physician, involving acute and critical illnesses or injuries that require a high level of care.

Step-by-step explanation:

The patient in this scenario presented with an exacerbation of asthma and experienced severe shortness of breath (SOB) that progressed to respiratory arrest. The correct medical billing code for this service, where the physician provided 45 minutes of critical care, would be C. 99291. This code is used for the first hour of critical care and is appropriate for the intense level of medical care delivered to the patient.

In the given scenario, the patient arrived at the physician's office for an exacerbation of asthma, but unfortunately went into respiratory arrest. The physician examined the patient, began IV meds, and continued treating the patient until an ambulance arrived. The time documented treating the patient was 45 minutes. Code 99291 is used for critical care services provided by a physician, involving acute and critical illnesses or injuries that require a high level of care. In this case, the patient's respiratory arrest qualifies as a critical condition, and the physician's treatment efforts would be classified as critical care.