Critical Care Services

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Week 4 Discussion:
What is the difference between emergency services and critical care? Give examples of each.
There are many differences in emergency services and critical care services. Below is a comparison:
Emergency Room/Department-Is located in a hospital but separately maintained and billing and coding are very different from the hospital setting as it is outpatient versus hospital is inpatient. It provides disaster management in times of a hurricane, earthquake, explosion, tornadoes, shootings, etcetera. Their patients are unlimited because normally their patients are seen and released either to their home or admission to the hospital as an inpatient. They provide short term care even for observation it is normally only 24 hours. The atmosphere is chaotic as people …show more content…

Critical care services provided by medical staff in an emergency department setting have to be coded very strictly due to CMS rules and regulations. These two services are coded completely differently so therefore adjustments and documentation have to be completed accurately. “First, a patient has to be critically ill or injured and at risk of death, loss of limb, or will decline rapidly if treatment is not provided.” “Time must be documented for any critical care services” as this is one of the guidelines for coding critical care and not emergency services. Critical care services are paid at a higher rate than emergency services if documented accurately. “The time documented must be for this patient only, and at the patient's bedside or close by.” The physician cannot leave the room or go to another patient or billing and coding will not be correct. Also, “critical interventions such as treatment or prevention of vital organ function/failure, or treatment of any critical condition must be

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