Reader Question:
Who Can Supervise Allergy Shots?
Published on Fri Sep 09, 2011
Question: Can a nurse give an allergy shot to a Medicare patient if the doctor is out of the office? What about an ARNP? Can they supervise?Nevada SubscriberAnswer: No, a nurse cannot give that allergy shot. The supervision requirements is direct, which means a physician must be in the office suite before a patient can be administered allergy shots -- not necessarily the patient's physician, but a physician. Yes, an advanced registered nurse practitioner (ARNP) can supervise. A nurse practitioner (NP) or physician assistant (PA) credentialed with Medicare with a national provider identifier (NPI) is qualified to provide direct supervision for allergy shots. You would bill under the NPI of the PA or NP who is present in the office when the service takes place. Careful: Do not bill the allergy shot as an incident service, under the physician's NPI, the claim must be billed under the nonphysician provider's NPI who [...]