Gastroenterology Coding Alert

READER QUESTIONS:

Charge Outpatient Consult for Observation

Question: Another doctor asked my GI physician for a consult with a patient who had been admitted for an observation stay. Should I use 99218-99220?


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Answer: Because your gastroenterologist is involved with the patient in a consultative capacity, you should report his services with the appropriate outpatient consult code (99241-99245).

If your doctor admits the patient to the hospital, however, you should more accurately report his service with the applicable initial inpatient care code (99221-99223).

Only one physician can bill the observation admit codes (99218-99220, Initial observation care, per day ...) per observation stay. Because observation is an outpatient setting, all other physicians treating the patient in observation should report outpatient care codes.
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