Maternity Care
We have a question regarding maternity care. When billing a 59410 (vaginal delivery only, including postpartum care) does the "postpartum care" only refer to the visits to the hospital when the physician is doing her rounds, or does it also include the patient visit to the office a few weeks later? Do we bill the office visit after delivery separately?
Question: We have a question regarding maternity care. When billing a 59410 (vaginal delivery only, including postpartum care) does the "postpartum care" only refer to the visits to the hospital when the physician is doing her rounds, or does it also include the patient visit to the office a few weeks later? Do we bill the office visit after delivery separately?
Answer: According to Emily Hill, code 59410 is used only when the obstetrician or group has not provided all of the global maternity care for the patient. The delivery-only codes, such as 59409, include the inpatient postpartum care. The postpartum care noted in 59410 includes the outpatient postpartum care. Therefore, if you report code 59410, it includes inpatient and outpatient visits. You would not separately report an outpatient postpartum visit when you report 59410.
