Time for another edition of my wildly popular “Success Codes” series. If you haven’t already, you may want to review my world-class, yet humbly simple (yes, really) explanation of RAF scoring—it’ll help you understand some of the shorthand terminologies below. It’s the only one on the web written by a PCP who’s been in the trenches blocking and tackling since Medicare Advantage first arrived on the scene 20+ years ago—and done so with incredible results.
That’s probably why it’s so good—and so good for you!
Now let’s get started.
More than most conditions, neurologic codes are based on history rather than objective findings. Take a good history, especially regarding sensory and motor symptoms. It’ll be well worth it for both you and your patient.
- Cauda equina syndrome G83.4 RAF 0.5
- Epilepsy G40.909 RAF 0.3
- Anterior horn disease G12.29 RAF 1.0
- Drug-induced neuropathy G62.0 RAF 0.5
- Alcoholic neuropathy G62.1 RAF 0.5
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- Cauda equina syndrome
- Treat this clinical diagnosis as the authentic emergency it is, but don’t trust the ER or the neurosurgeon to document it accurately
- Epilepsy G40.909
- Use for stable patients on maintenance anti-epileptics
- Don’t use the acute seizure codes, you’ll lose the audit
- Anterior horn disease
- The post-polio cohort is passing but the condition does occur and under-recognized—take a good history.
- Drug-induced neuropathy
- Consider this code if you had to stop a med due to numbness or tingling.
- Alcoholic neuropathy
- Often present in symptomatic alcoholics, rarely caught.
Remember, these are not the most common neurologic codes, but the most common codes that will be missed unless you, the primary care clinician, catches them.
Catch them—both you and your patients will prosper
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