4 techniques can clarify confusing Medicare guidelines When a cardiologist works as a "teaching physician" (TP) and supervises a resident's services in an office or a hospital setting, you will have to report the physician's work using the teaching physician rules, according to the Medicare Carriers Manual (MCM), section 15016. Following the MCM guidelines for reporting TP services can trip up even the most seasoned coder. Read on for some expert advice for reporting E/M services and minor surgical procedures using the teaching physician rules. Intern Must Be a GME Student The MCM defines a resident as an intern or fellow who's enrolled in an accredited graduate medical education (GME) program, says Marti Geron, CPC, CMA, CM, coding and reimbursement manager at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Note: For more information on requirements for a resident to achieve fellow/intern status, see "You Be The Expert: TP Rules and Med Students". 1. Report Office Consults Based on 'Key Portions' Let's say the TP provides an E/M service such as an office/other outpatient service (99201-99205, 99211-99215, or an office consultation 99241-99245) without the resident present. It may be possible to report under TP guidelines, experts say. How? If the resident and the TP perform the E/M service, the TP would have to duplicate the "critical and key portions" of the resident's services to bill under this guideline. Example: A resident sees a new patient complaining of chest pain when he breathes. The resident conducts an expanded problem-focused history and exam. The TP also evaluates the patient, performs an exam, and consults with the patient on his condition. The TP doesn't have to duplicate the resident's progress notes, Geron says. But the TP should refer to the resident's notes and state that the TP reviewed the resident's documentation and agrees with the diagnosis. Ensure Resident's Presence for Evaluations If the resident did not attend the TP's patient evaluation and also didn't perform a complete E/M service, the TP must bill and document the office visit as he would in a non-teaching setting, says Carol Pohlig, BSN, RN, CPC, senior coding and education specialist at the University of Pennsylvania department of medicine in Philadelphia. 2. Document Cardiologist Presence for Critical Care You can also report under TP rules when the resident and TP perform critical care jointly. Suppose the cardiologist and the resident provide critical care treatment to a patient for a total of 56 minutes. Your physician may be able to report 99291 (Critical care, evaluation and management of the critically ill or critically injured patient; first 30-74 minutes), as long as the documentation supports the code. Key questions: When filing TP claims involving critical care, make sure the cardiologist's supporting documentation points out that the TP (i.e., the cardiologist): 3. Supervision Guides Surgical Procedure Claims When you report minor surgeries, you should make sure the cardiologist documents that he directly supervised the entire procedure. That means the physician must be present in the room. Example: The cardiologist supervises while the resident performs a thrombin injection with fluoroscopic guidance on a patient with a pseudoaneurysm. When filing this claim, you should: 4. Know How to Use the Primary-Care Exception In some cases, Medicare allows a TP to get paid when a resident provides an E/M service without the TP's direct supervision. These cases must fall under the Medicare Carrier Manual's primary-care exception, which refers to E/M new patient codes 99201-99203 and established patient codes 99211-99213. Remember: The primary-care exception applies only to primary-care practices. But the offices must be located in the outpatient department of a hospital or another ambulatory care entity, not a physician's office away from the center or during a home visit, the MCM states. To meet Medicare's documentation requirements for reporting 99201-99203 and 99211-99213 under the exception, make sure you can satisfy the following MCM criteria, which state that your teaching physician:
When filing this report, you should:
In other words, to support a 99202 claim, the cardiologist would have to document:
For example, your cardiologist can't view the session through a monitor in another room, Pohlig says.
Remember: You should also attach modifier -GE (This service has been performed by a resident without the
Example: If you billed a level-two office visit of an established patient,