Anesthesia Coding Alert
Streamline With 1 Labor Epidural Claim, if Possible
Question: We have a labor epidural that has two start and stop times by two anesthesiologists. One is under Dr. A from 1218 to 1245 and the other is under Dr. B from 1900 to 1930. I know that there are several different ways to bill for labor anesthesia but this group bills base unit and time. Should we combine the times and bill under whichever doctor has more time or should we bill each time under each doctor? Montana Subscriber Answer: Because you’re reporting care for the same patient, you should be able to combine the times and bill a single claim under either of the doctors. This approach is fine, provided the physicians are part of the same group and can report the same tax ID. If they have different tax IDs, you’ll need to submit a claim for each anesthesiologist. Please note a reported time exception would be if your state Medicaid plan requires face-to-face time for laboring patients. In that case, only report the documented face time for both doctors under one claim.
Anesthesia Coding Alert
- Reimbursement:
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