EM Coding Alert

Question: Can you tell me more about the requirements for using 99288?

Florida Subscriber

Answer: In the 2017 CPT^® manual, 99288 (Physician or other qualified health care professional direction of emergency medical systems [EMS] emergency care, advanced life support) falls under the “Other Emergency Services” category. To use 99288 correctly, the physician, who is based in a hospital emergency or critical care department, must direct the emergency care/advanced life support of a patient via two-way voice communication with ambulance or rescue personnel located outside of the hospital.

According to CPT^® 2017, the physician’s documentation must support that he participated in the supervision of the patient’s emergency care. With 99288, the physician usually directs the following medically necessary services:

• Telemetry of cardiac rhythm
• Cardiac or pulmonary resuscitation
• Endotracheal or esophageal intubation
• Administration of IV fluids or drugs
• Electrical conversion of arrhythmia.

You should never report 99288 if the physician conducts radio direction for the care of a patient who does not come to the emergency department (ED) where the physician is working and there is no face-to-face encounter.

Important: Code 99288 does not have Medicare relative value units (RVUs). Medicare does not pay separately for 99288 because it considers payment for the service included in the evaluation and management (E/M) codes 99281-99285 (Emergency department visit for the evaluation and management of a patient, which requires these three key components ...). Although some private payers may reimburse for 99288, you should always check with your carrier before submitting the claim.