Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

Question: Our neurologist performs EEGs in the hospital. He performs follow-up services for the patient after the initial test was done. Can we bill a follow-up visit even though the neurologist never billed for a consult because his first encounter with the patient was the test? Alaska Subscriber Answer: You will first need to determine if your neurologist is seeing the patient in the hospital facility or his office for "follow-up". The inpatient hospital codes are not based on new versus established in comparison to the office setting. Additionally, consultation codes are not based on new versus established patients either. One issue with consultation services would be if the patient is covered by Medicare, which doesn’t accept the consultation codes, then the physician would need to report the appropriate E/M code based on the place of service, i.e. office (new versus established) or inpatient (initial hospital care code). To determine [...]