DecisionHealth, DecisionHealth - 2024 Issue 2 (February)
Q&A: Check the payer first when selecting codes for obesity counselin
Question: At our orthopedic practice we sometimes must postpone a patient's total joint replacement because their BMI is too high. We either refer them back to their PCP for weight loss management or to a weight loss program at another facility. One of our providers is working to become certified in weight loss counseling, which would allow her to provide this service at our practice rather than referring the patients elsewhere. My question is: how would this service be billed? Would we use the preventive medicine individual counseling codes 99401-99404? If so, are there any specific documentation requirements that would need to be included in the note? (I see that these codes are time-based, so obviously the time would need to be documented.) Or would this type of visit be billed under a regular established patient E/M (99212-99215)?
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