General Surgery Coding Alert

Question: A family practice physician admitted a patient for treatment of severe abdominal pain, and then consulted with my general surgeon, who follows the patient through the episode of care. Both physicians want to report the hospital discharge. Can they split the discharge billing? If not, who should report it? Kansas Subscriber Answer: It sounds as if the family practice physician is the admitting "attending" physician. Therefore, the attending physician is the physician who reports the discharge code (99238-99239, Hospital discharge day management -). According to CPT, under instructions for Hospital Discharge Services, "To report concurrent care services provided by a physician(s) other than the attending physician, use subsequent hospital care codes 99231-99233." Remember: Medicare and many other payers allow only the admitting physician to bill a discharge for the patient. However, if another physician in the same practice performs the discharge service -- for example, if the admitting doctor [...]