READER QUESTIONS:
Don't Leave Telephone Codes off the Hook
Published on Fri May 26, 2006
Question: Due to the large volume of non-emergent calls our ob-gyns receive after 10:00 p.m., we are considering charging for after-hours calls. What CPT code should I use?
California Subscriber
Answer: You should use telephone call codes 99371-99373 (Telephone call by a physician to patient or for consultation or medical management or for coordinating medical management with other healthcare professionals ...). Ask your major insurers if the plans will reimburse the services.
Some Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans are paying for after-hours calls. For instance, BCBS of California pays $18 for a level-two call (99372, ... intermediate [e.g., to provide advice to an established patient on a new problem, to initiate therapy that can be handled by telephone, to discuss test results in detail, to coordinate medical management of a new problem in an established patient, to discuss and evaluate information and details, or to initiate new plan of care]).
Protect yourself: The ob-gyn must document the call. Reserve 99371-99373 for calls of substance, not just quick calls (those calls that a nurse could handle). The answers for Reader Questions and You Be the Coder were provided by Melanie Witt, RN, CPC-OGS, MA, an ob-gyn coding expert based in Guadalupita, N.M.
