Neurosurgery Coding Alert

Tip: Don't let Medicare's 2010 consultation changes alter your split visit billing.When your neurosurgeon provides services in the hospital, he may opt to share the work with a non-physician practitioner (NPP) to maximize his time. If you don't know when you can bill those services as split/shared visits, you're costing your physician 15 percent every time. Make sure you're bringing in every dollar by learning these three split/shared visit guidelines.1. Learn When to Apply Shared Visit RulesSplit/shared rules come into play when one of your physicians and a qualified nonphysician practitioner (NPP), such as a physician assistant, both see a patient face to face in the hospital where incident-to rules are not applicable. Each provider performs a distinct part of an E/M service. If the encounter meets shared visit guidelines, you'll be able to report the entire visit under your physician's National Provider Identifier (NPI) -- thereby garnering 15 percent more pay [...]