Question: A new gastroenterologist recently joined our multispecialty practice. He is seeing a patient whom he has never seen but has been seen by another physician in the practice. Should the gastroenterologist bill a new or established patient evaluation and management (E/M) code?
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If the gastroenterologist is performing a consultation at the request of another physician in the practice, which means he or she offers a medical opinion back to the requesting physician, the gastroenterologist can bill one of the consultation codes (99241-99245 office or outpatient; 99251-99255, initial inpatient; 99261-99263, follow-up inpatient; or 99271-99275, confirmatory consultation), adds McMahan.