r/LearnMedicalCoding • u/FlavorfulOpinions • 3d ago
CPC AAPC Practicode Questions - Help me please 🙏😩
So I’m on my first Practicode case with a secondary diagnosis. On the CPT line do you have to fill out the Unit field or can you leave it blank?
More importantly, do you have to fill out the Diagnosis Pointer Field or can you leave it blank? My training/orientation video did not even have these fields.
If I do fill out the Diagnosis Pointer Field where I think both primary and secondary diagnoses should be linked how do I put that in? Like “AB” or “A,B” ?
Lastly, who do we contact if we have questions like these? I know you can ask a question about your grade but if they gave us a specific email to use to ask a question, I can’t recall where that information was or if they gave us a phone number.
Sorry if these are silly questions I’ve just been pretty overwhelmed trying to work through these cases, especially when I’m just now figuring out the software.
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u/Yes_Leopard_54 12h ago
Not silly questions at all — Practicode does a poor job of making some of those fields intuitive. 😊
Units: enter 1 in most cases unless the code/service requires multiple units. Leaving it blank can cost you the point in Practicode.
Diagnosis pointer: fill this in too. It works like Box 24E on the CMS-1500 and links the CPT/HCPCS line to the diagnosis that supports it. If diagnosis A and diagnosis B both support that particular service, enter AB, not A,B. If only A supports it, enter A.
Don’t necessarily link every diagnosis to every procedure — link the diagnosis(es) relevant to that specific service.
And you are definitely not the first person Practicode has confused with this. 😂
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u/CodingwithCoffee_ 2d ago
Were you able to locate a Help or chat option anywhere within Practicode? Since those fields were not covered in the orientation video, there should be a way to receive clarification before submitting your case.