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AAPC CPC Exam - Topic 1 Question 11 Discussion

Actual exam question for AAPC's CPC exam
Question #: 11
Topic #: 1
[All CPC Questions]

View MR 099405

MR 099405

CC: Shortness of breath

HPI: 16-year-old female comes into the ED for shortness of breath for the last two days. She is an asthmatic.

Current medications being used to treat symptoms is Advair, which is not working and breathing is getting worse. Does not feel that Advair has been helping. Patient tried Albuterol for persistent coughing, is not helping. Coughing 10-15 minutes at a time. Patient has used the Albuterol 3x in the last 16 hrs. ED physician admits her to observation status.

ROS: No fever, no headache. No purulent discharge from the eyes. No earache. No nasal discharge or sore throat. No swollen glands in the neck. No palpitations. Dyspnea and cough. Some chest pain. No nausea or vomiting. No abdominal pain, diarrhea, or constipation.

PMH: Asthma

SH: Lives with both parents.

FH: Family hx of asthma, paternal side

ALLERGIES: PCN-200 CAPS. Allergies have been reviewed with child's family and no changes reported.

PE: General appearance: normal, alert. Talks in sentences. Pink lips and cheeks. Oriented. Well developed. Well nourished. Well hydrated.

Eyes: normal. External eye: no hyperemia of the conjunctiva. No discharge from the conjunctiva

Ears: general/bilateral. TM: normal. Nose: rhinorrhea. Pharynx/Oropharynx: normal. Neck: normal.

Lymph nodes: normal.

Lungs: before Albuterol neb, mode air entry b/l. No rales, rhonchi or wheezes. After Albuterol neb. improvement of air entry b/l. Respiratory movements were normal. No intercostals inspiratory retraction was observed.

Cardiovascular system: normal. Heart rate and rhythm normal. Heart sounds normal. No murmurs were heard.

GI: abdomen normal with no tenderness or masses. Normal bowel sounds. No hepatosplenomegaly

Skin: normal warm and dry. Pink well perfused

Musculoskeletal system patient indicates lower to mid back pain when she lies down on her back and when she rolls over. No CVA tenderness.

Assessment: Asthma, acute exacerbation

Plan: Will keep her in observation overnight. Will administer oral steroids and breathing treatment. CXR ordered and to be taken in the morning.

What E/M code is reported?

Show Suggested Answer Hide Answer
Suggested Answer: B

Contribute your Thoughts:

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Casie
3 months ago
Not sure if the CXR is really necessary, though.
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Francesco
3 months ago
I agree, observation is the right call here.
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Bulah
4 months ago
Wait, she’s 16 and still using Albuterol that much? Seems off.
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Providencia
4 months ago
Definitely needs better management, Advair isn't cutting it.
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Mike
4 months ago
Sounds like a classic asthma exacerbation.
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Alaine
4 months ago
I feel a bit confused about the coding options. I thought 99284 was for moderate severity, but this case feels more severe with the need for steroids and observation.
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Georgeanna
4 months ago
I recall a practice question similar to this where we had to consider the severity of the condition. The fact that she’s an asthmatic with worsening symptoms makes me lean towards a higher code too.
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Ahmed
5 months ago
I'm not entirely sure, but I think 99285 might be the right choice since the patient is experiencing significant symptoms and needs observation.
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Levi
5 months ago
I remember we discussed how to determine the level of service based on the patient's history and physical exam findings. This one seems like it could be a higher level due to the acute exacerbation.
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Glory
5 months ago
This is a tricky one. The patient is young, but the sympGlory sound pretty severe. I'm torn between 99284 and 99285. I'll have to re-read the details carefully and make sure I'm considering all the factors before deciding.
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Burma
5 months ago
Hmm, I'm a little unsure about this one. The patient seems to be in pretty significant distress with the shortness of breath and persistent coughing. Maybe 99285 would be more appropriate given the level of care required?
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Wilburn
5 months ago
This looks like a pretty straightforward case of an asthma exacerbation. I'd go with 99284 since the patient was admitted to observation status.
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Aaron
5 months ago
Okay, let me think this through step-by-step. The patient is a 16-year-old female with a history of asthma presenting with acute worsening of symptoms. She was admitted to observation status and received additional treatment. Based on the level of care described, I think 99222 is the best code to report.
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Dominga
5 months ago
Okay, I think I know the answer here. The key is that the new version needs to run alongside the old version to avoid any downtime. That sounds like a blue/green deployment to me.
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Katlyn
5 months ago
Option A looks promising, with the identity and access management mechanism to mitigate the attacks, and the failover system to provide redundancy. I'm leaning towards that as the best solution.
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Pamella
5 months ago
I recall that load balancers work best with multiple AZs, so I feel like option C is the right choice, even if I'm not completely confident about the specifics of regions.
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