Oncology & Hematology Coding Alert

Question: There's a note under CPT 96372 that says if there's not direct physician supervision, you should report 99211 instead. But to bill incident-to, doesn't 99211 require direct physician supervision?Answer: You're correct that under Medicare's incident-to rules, you need direct physician supervision to report 99211 (Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of an established patient, that may not require the presence of a physician. Usually the presenting problem[s] are minimal. Typically, 5 minutes are spent performing or supervising these services).Direct supervision means that the physician is in the office suite and immediately available to assist if needed. The physician doesn't have to be in the actual room, though.What this means: For Medicare (and those payers with the same rules), you won't be able to charge 99211 or 96372 (Therapeutic, prophylactic, or diagnostic injection [specify substance or drug]; subcutaneous or intramuscular) for injections without direct supervision. You'll [...]