tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2004 Issue 5

Reader Question: Rely on Outpatient Codes for ED Visits

Question: Our surgeon was recently on-call for the emergency department (ED). The ED physician asked for the surgeon's opinion on a patient's condition and asked the surgeon to recommend treatment options. How should we report this consult service in the ED?Nevada Subscriber Answer: You should report consult codes 99241-99245 (Office consultation for a new or established patient) for true consultations that a surgeon provides in the ED. Many physicians and coders mistakenly believe that outpatient consults should be used for office visits only. In fact, such consultations may occur in any outpatient environment, including the ED.The CPT...

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