HPI for Multiple Chief Complaints | Medical Coding Training
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Q: (HPI for Multiple Chief Complaints) “If the patient presents with 3 complaints not chronic illness and there are 1-3 elements documented for each complaint that this would support an EPH HPI.”
The question was basically asking for an authoritative source regarding pulling HPI element for multiple chief complaints. Not talking about chronic illnesses, we’re just talking about patients like me when I go to the doctor, I like to save all of my so that he gets more bang for his buck, when I go; so he has a lot to choose from when I go to the doctor.
So, people who are like me who may want to go in there complaining about knee pain and then they want to complain about ringing in the ears – that type of thing. So, the only authoritative source that you’re going to be able to find is going to be whatever carrier that you’re billing for. CMS isn’t even going to be the authoritative service on this because every carrier can set their guidelines that they want to use for determining their HPI. I can give you some rule of thumb but you’re still going to have to go back to that carrier.
The question there was the statement that said the coder must choose elements in HPI based on one chief complaint, whichever chief complaint has the most HPI elements and that benefit physician the most – I, probably a lot of other auditors out there do not like that statement. One, I don’t like blanket statement and the statement isn’t completely right and the statement isn’t completely wrong either.
So, I think what I disagree with this is just the wording and I didn’t want to sit here and go, “Yes, I agree with that,” and then you think that that’s the way it is, it is a blanket statement. So, really, truly, I don’t like a blanket statement.
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