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Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

Reader Question:

Family Conference

Published on Wed Dec 19, 2012

Question: How should I code a family conference? For instance, a family member who is responsible for the care of this patient at home requests an appointment with the physician to review care, treatment plan, counseling, prognosis, etc. The patient is usually not present.

South Carolina Subscriber  
Answer: In this case, use the codes for prolonged services without direct face-to-face patient contact (99358-99359). These are time-based codes, reported in addition to other physician services, including E/M services. The physician must precisely document the services rendered, the reason for the services, and all start and stop times.
 
Time billed toward these codes does not have to be continuous, but it must occur on the same date of service. For instance, the physician may counsel the family for 40 minutes, leave to allow the family to discuss the situation, and return 20 minutes [...]
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