For most children in the United States, the 2019–2020 school year ended with schools closing or switching to online learning because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. During this time, some parents also opted to delay routine child health services. As children return to school, it is expected that pediatricians will see an increased number of children who require routine preventive services or are experiencing difficulty in returning to school. This article provides codes for some of the potential reasons for visits and procedure codes for the services to address those reasons.
Children may need medical clearance to enter preschools or to participate in physical activities or sports. Ideally, these will be provided as part of a routine child health examination reported with procedure codes 99381–99385 for new patients and 99391–99395 for established patients.
Diagnosis codes for routine child health examinations include
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