Fast Track in ED

Question: We have a fast track in our emergency department (ED) where we see the less acute patients making unscheduled visits. The patients are seen in the fast track area by our emergency physicians or the physician assistants under the supervision of the emergency physician. Are these visits billed as ED or clinic revenue?

Florida Subscriber

Answer: You should bill patients who register for emergency services and are treated within the confines of the ED as ED patients under the ED revenue center code 45X. Many EDs have established fast care areas that are a location within the ED and not a separate department. Services provided to these patients would be billed with the evaluation and management level related to your internal facility assessment criteria. Any other services they receive, i.e., wound repairs, orthopedic services, etc., would be billed separately.

Sources for Reader Questions and You Be the Expert are Laura Siniscalchi, RRA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, education coordinator at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston; Caral Edelberg, CPC, CCS-P, president of Medical Management Resources, an emergency medicine coding company in Jacksonville, Fla.; and Ruthie N. Burden, CCS, CPC, CPAR, medical records coding department St. Joseph Hospital in Augusta, Ga.

- Published on 2000-12-01