Ob-Gyn Coding Alert

Question: Can you report 99051 in addition to an E/M code for a Saturday visit? The description states adjunct to basic services rendered for services provided during posted evening, weekend, or holiday office hours.

Wyoming Subscriber

Answer: No. Ask yourself, what exactly is the additional special service? Code 99051 (Service[s] provided in the office during regularly scheduled evening, weekend, or holiday office hours, in addition to basic service) is not an automatic add-on code for seeing a patient on the weekend. If weekend hours are the posted hours for the practice, then the ob-gyn has provided the basic service.

Now if the ob-gyn sees the patient and the visit goes beyond the posted hours, a payer might consider that a special service. Another scenario is the patient comes in without an appointment and disrupts the scheduled appointments.

Payment, however, is another matter. By the way, if your practice is tacking on this "surcharge" to be open on Saturdays, then you better be informing your patients that they will more than likely have an out of pocket expense for this as many payers do not reimburse for code 99051.