Chest
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A 65-year-old man presented with shortness of breath, gradually worsening for the previous 2 weeks, associated with dry cough, sore throat, and diarrhea. He denied fever, chills, chest pain, abdominal pain, nausea, or vomiting. He did not have any sick contacts or travel history outside of Michigan. ⋯ Antibiotic therapy with IV meropenem was started. His condition steadily improved; eventually by day 20, he was off vasopressors and was extubated. However, on day 23, he experienced significant hemoptysis that required reintubation and vasopressor support.
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Advanced interventional pulmonary procedures of the airways, pleural space, and mediastinum continue to evolve and be refined. Health care, finance, and clinical professionals are challenged by both the indications and related coding complexities. ⋯ We describe advanced bronchoscopic procedures, appropriate Current Procedural Terminology coding, valuations, and necessary modifiers to fill the knowledge gap between basic and advanced procedural coding. Our approach is to balance the description of procedures with the associated coding in a way that is of use to the proceduralist, the coding specialist, and other nonclinical professionals.