Question: My internist attended to a critical care adult patient in transport to another facility. How can I bill for the treatment he provided on the way to the facility? What should I include in the report? Answer: You should report critical care codes 99291-99292 because your patient is older than 24 months. But if that patient had been an infant, you could have reported either 99289 (Critical care services delivered by a physician, face-to-face, during an interfacility transport of critically ill or critically injured pediatric patient, 24 months of age or less; first 30-74 minutes of hands-on care during transport) or +99290 (... each additional 30 minutes [list separately in addition to code for primary service]), depending on the patient's age and the time your internist treated the patient.
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Remember that your carrier may require supporting documentation that your physician performed critical care services. CPT states that the patient must have a critical illness or injury that acutely impairs one or more vital organ systems, such as vital organ failure, circulatory failure, shock, and respiratory failure. For example, your
internist treats a 15-year-old who has an acute respiratory failure (518.81) from an asthma attack. In this case, submit 99291 for your physician's 30 minutes of work. But you shouldn't report a critical care code if your physician saw the patient for less than 30 minutes. When your internist treats a patient for less than 30 minutes, you should list 99215 (Office or other outpatient visit ... of an established patient ...).