Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

Question: Recently, our neurologist met with a prospective patient for a 20-minute "meet and greet" session. The neurologist discussed the patient's diagnosis and offered possible treatment options, but did not conduct a formal exam. Can we code for this?


Oregon Subscriber

Answer: You probably can't code for this procedure: Without a new complaint, and a proper exam and history, payers would likely deny this service as medically unnecessary.

The only way to bill is to create a standard fee for the service based on your neurologist's individual fee rates. You would have to let all potential patients know that they will have to pay directly for the service, whether the subject of the meet and greet becomes a patient or not.

Most practices find that the best strategy for these types of encounters is to treat them as a patient courtesy, and provide them free of charge.

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.