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By Susan Dooley
The genetic disease cystic fibrosis isnt all that common according to surgeon and public
healthresearcher Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, only about a thousand children are diagnosed each year in
the United States as having it. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation says that 30,000 Americans currently live
with the condition, and more than half of them are adults. But this disease causes the mucus in the
bronchial passages to thicken, block airways, and create an environment that makes it easy for bacteria
to grow and infect the lungs, which means that pulmonology practices should know the ins and outs of
reporting the diagnosis and treatment of CF patients.
The Coding Institute LLC, 2222 Sedwick Road, Durham, NC 27713, Eenterprise Contact: Sam Nair, Direct: 704 303 8150,
shyamn@codinginstitute.com
Cystic fibrosis patients require unique treatment, including exercise, antibiotics, bronchodilators,
nebulized mucus-thinning medications, airway-clearing methods and devices, and regular chest physical
therapy (PT). Chest PT can be manual, requiring another person, often a parent, to manually strike or
percuss the chest several times a day or it can be mechanized using a device called a VEST that vibrates
or flutters when you blow into a device. Either way, chest PT shakes the mucus around in the airways to
make it easier to cough up.
81412, Panel for Ashkenazi Jewish genetic disorders such as Bloom syndrome, Canavan disease,
cystic fibrosis,
You might also want to review the gene analysis range 81220 to 81224 for a useful code. As always,
check with payers, as not all will reimburse for this test. According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation,
people who are CF carriers dont have the disease itself, but when both parents are CF carriers, chances
are 25 percent that the child will have cystic fibrosis.
The Coding Institute LLC, 2222 Sedwick Road, Durham, NC 27713, Eenterprise Contact: Sam Nair, Direct: 704 303 8150,
shyamn@codinginstitute.com
Contact Us:
Name: Sam Nair
Title: Associate Director Enterprise Practice
Email: shyamn@codinginstitute.com
Direct: 704 303 8150
The Coding Institute LLC, 2222 Sedwick Road, Durham, NC 27713, Eenterprise Contact: Sam Nair, Direct: 704 303 8150,
shyamn@codinginstitute.com