tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2003 Issue 6

READER QUESTION: Include Consult in ED Observation

Question: If the emergency department (ED) physician requests a consultation from a surgeon for a patient who is in observation status for acute abdominal pain, would it be correct to bill an outpatient consultation code (99241-99245) on the same day? If yes, should I use any modifiers? Missouri SubscriberAnswer: If the ED physician admits the patient to observation status as a result of a consultation with a surgeon, the surgeon could bill for the consultation. Even though the patient is in the observation unit of the hospital, the patient is still considered an outpatient. So the outpatient consultation codes...

To read the full article, sign in and subscribe to tci General Surgery Coding Alert.


Leverage vital, to-the-point monthly guidance to boost your reporting accuracy and your coding know-how. We make it convenient for your team to stay informed, compliant, and profitable with a subscription to TCI’s General Surgery Coding Alert.

  • Current newsletters added each month
  • Fully searchable archives - over 2100 articles
  • ALL years/issues back to 1999 organized by year and issue
  • Codes mentioned in articles are linked to Code Information pages
  • Code Information pages link back to related articles
Access to this feature is available in the following products:
  • tci General Surgery Coding Alert +Archives

demo
request yours today
 subscribe
start today
 newsletter
free subscription

Thank you for choosing Find-A-Code, please Sign In to remove ads.