Otolaryngology Coding Alert
Take Note of When Techs Can Bill for Testing
Question: When a physician orders a comprehensive audiometry threshold evaluation and speech recognition test (92557) can their certified audiology technician or oto-tech perform and bill for this? Texas Subscriber Answer: In most states, the answer is no, they cannot. According to Medicare, audiology/otolaryngology techs cannot bill Medicare for 92557 (Comprehensive audiometry threshold evaluation and speech recognition …) because there is no separate professional component (-26) and technical component (-TC) breakout where the technician would be able to bill for the technical component. However, qualified professionals who have their own Medicare National Provider Identifier (NPI), such as an audiologist, may bill for this. Bottom line: Qualified technicians can only perform and bill for diagnostic audiology tests (under direct physician supervision) that have a technical and professional component. In such cases, the tech can only provide the technical component of the test.
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Take Note of When Techs Can Bill for Testing
Question: When a physician orders a comprehensive audiometry threshold evaluation and speech recognition test (92557) can [...]
