EM Coding Alert

Answer these questions and find out.

Because it can involve different dates and different providers - sometimes different providers from the same practice - hospital admissions coding can be as much an art as a science. So, we've put together four different scenarios that will give your documentation a healthy prognosis.

Question 1:
Your provider sees a patient earlier in the day at your office. Later that same day, your provider admits the patient to the hospital and visits the patient in the early evening. Do you bill for the office visit, the hospital admission, or both?

Question 2:
Your provider admits a patient to the hospital, but does not visit this patient until the following day. Do you bill for the office visit, the hospital admission, or both?

Question 3:
A provider from your practice admits a patient to the hospital at 10:30 AM. A different provider, also from your practice, discharges the patient at 3:30 PM. The admitting physician wants to bill an inpatient code, while the discharging physician wants to bill an observation code. Which do you bill?

Question 4:
Another physician, not affiliated with your practice, admits a patient, then asks your provider for a consult. Do you bill for an initial visit, a subsequent visit, or a consult?

Think you know the answers? Stay tuned to the next issue of E/M Coding Alert to see if your answers match our experts'.