Coding for Oxygen Administration

Coding a medical billing claim for oxygen administration can be a tricky beast because there is not a specific oxygen administration code assigned. Normally the administration of oxygen is bundled into an emergency visit.

When a doctor prescribes the oxygen, you should use the appropriate office visit code that describes the procedure and services performed by the physicians that necessitates the need for oxygen. Full documentation of the medical billing claim will insure that your bundled oxygen administrations codings get full reimbursement.

For example if you have a physician who performs a detailed examination on a patient and decides to administer oxygen to a known patient who is in the emergency room for anything from a possible reaction to an injection or other diagnostic issue, you will want to use 99214 (Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of an established patient…), as well as any additional procedures and special services.

Outsourcing your medical billing can eliminate a lot of the “when do I use …’ headaches a lot of members of your staff may be having. The CPT changes frequently and in many cases codes are deleted or changed and not keeping up the changes can cost you in the most literal sense of the word. If you have frequent partial payments or rejected claims, it is probably either due to low medical documentation (not enough documentation to pay the claim) or using the incorrect CPT code. A code that was correct for a procedure one year ago may have been modified this year and will no longer exactly fit the bill.

View all Articles by: Kathryn E, CCS-P - Retired