General Surgery Coding Alert

Question: Another physician told my surgeon that he's receiving payment from his contractor for telephone calling codes. My surgeon would like to start using these codes as well. Does Medicare pay for telephone calls?Answer: Medicare considers telephone call codes 99441- 99443 (Telephone E/M service provided by a physician to an established patient, parent, or guardian not originating from a related E/M service provided within the previous 7 days nor leading to an E/M service or procedure within the next 24 hours or soonest available appointment; ...) to be non-covered services.Here's how you know: You can find a code's status in column D of the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.Silver lining: Your physician technically is getting paid for telephone calls made in relation to performed office visits. "The physician work resulting from telephone calls is considered to be an integral part of the pre-work and post-work of other physician services, and [...]