Coding for asthma patient education in the primary care setting

Counseling and education for chronic diseases is a common service provided by primary care physicians. By not using and understanding the basic concepts in documentation and coding, primary care providers deny themselves proper reimbursement for the quality care they provide. Although we have used asthma as an example, concepts discussed here can be applied to other chronic diseases that require patient self-management. We review coding strategies that should be used when counseling and education are the main focus of the patient visit. We review additional procedures and techniques to make office flow, documentation, and coding proceed more smoothly.