Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

Question: Our neurologist performed subsequent hospital care over the course of four days, so we listed a date range on our claim, but Medicare denied the claim. Why is the date range not appropriate?

New York Subscriber Answer: Although most Medicare carriers accepted date ranges in the past, you can no longer list date ranges on your CMS-1500 form.
 
Medicare will not accept date ranges, according to CMS Change Request 3337, effective Oct. 1. Therefore, if your neurologist performs subsequent hospital care four days in a row, you should bill 99232 (Subsequent hospital care, per day, for the evaluation and management of a patient ...) on four separate claim lines with the separate dates listed.
 
Visit www.cms.hhs.gov/medlearn/matters/mmarticles/2004/MM3337.pdf to see the full change request.  - Clinical and coding expertise for You Be the Coder and Reader Questions provided by Neil Busis, MD, chief of the division of neurology and director of the neurodiagnostic laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center at Shadyside, and clinical associate professor in the department of neurology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; and Laureen Jandroep, OTR, CPC, CCS-P, CPC-H, CCS, director and senior instructor for CRN Institute, an online coding certification training center based in Absecon, N.J.