Advanced Search

General Surgery Coding Alert

Reader Questions:

Choose 99235 for Physician Who Examines Patient

Published on Sun Feb 27, 2005

Question: Dr. Smith was on-call and admitted a patient to the hospital. On the same day, our surgeon took over as the on-call physician. He saw the patient and discharged her that day. Because our surgeon admitted and discharged the patient on the same day, which physician should report 99235?

New Jersey Subscriber Answer: Because your surgeon saw the patient and Dr. Smith did not, only your surgeon should bill 99235 (Observation or inpatient hospital care, for the evaluation and management of a patient including admission and discharge on the same date ...).
 
You can report 99235 only if the physician actually sees and examines the patient. Because Dr. Smith only admitted the patient, he cannot report the E/M code.
You’ve reached your limit of free articles. Already a subscriber? Log in.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe today to continue reading this article. Plus, you’ll get:
  • Simple explanations of current healthcare regulations and payer programs
  • Real-world reporting scenarios solved by our expert coders
  • Industry news, such as MAC and RAC activities, the OIG Work Plan, and CERT reports
  • Instant access to every article ever published in Revenue Cycle Insider
  • 6 annual AAPC-approved CEUs
  • The latest updates for CPT®, ICD-10-CM, HCPCS Level II, NCCI edits, modifiers, compliance, technology, practice management, and more

Other Articles in this issue of

General Surgery Coding Alert

View All