ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Question: When an emergency physician turns an incomplete patient encounter over to a partner due to a shift change, does the physician turning over the patient need to make a note stating something like, "patient turned over to Dr. X at change of shift. She will continue care and make final disposition"? Or does the second doctor just have to sign behind the first?Michigan SubscriberAnswer: There is no foolproof, ultimate guideline about what to do in this situation -- it's entirely an internal group decision. Although some practices prefer to have the first doctor sign it, and others prefer to have the discharging physician's signature, most groups feel strongly that any physician involved in the patient's care should sign the chart. The issue often becomes one of a productivity-based compensation formula used by the group: Which doctor should get credit for treating the patient?To distribute revenue fairly, what matters most is [...]