Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

Stymied by a lack of written consult requests? Fax this form to requesting physicians

If you have trouble getting requesting physicians to document their consult requests in writing, we-ve got just the tool for you.
 
Although technically a consult request can be in writing or verbal, Medicare requires written proof of the request. Other payers are increasingly requiring written proof as well.
 
A new way that you can ensure that requests for all consultations you perform are well-documented is to fax the requesting physician a form to file in the patient's chart, which simply documents the physician's consultation request.
  
The following form was written by Barbara J. Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC, CPC-H, CHBME, president of CRN Healthcare Solutions in Tinton Falls, N.J., who allowed us to reprint it for our neurology subscribers- benefit.
 
Best practice: You can fax this form to a requesting physician who hasn't asked in writing for your neurologist's advice and ask him to fax it back to you -quot; or you can use this form to ask a specialist for his opinion. If you use it to request a consult from another physician, you should print the form on two-part no-carbon-required paper. This way, one form goes with the patient to the specialist, and one stays in your chart, as the requesting physician, to meet insurers- requirements, Cobuzzi says.