Eli's Rehab Report

READER QUESTIONS:

How to Report 'Meet and Greet'

Question: Recently, our physiatrist met with a prospective patient for a 20-minute "meet and greet" session. The physiatrist discussed the patient's diagnosis and offered possible treatment options, but did not conduct a formal exam. Can we code for this?


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Answer: Without a new complaint and a proper exam and history, payers would likely deny this service as medically unnecessary.

The only way to bill for the scenario you describe is to create a standard fee for the service based on your physiatrist's individual fee rates. You would have to let all potential patients know that they will have to pay directly for the service, whether the subject of the meet and greet becomes a patient or not.

Most practices find that the best strategy for these types of encounters is to treat them as a patient courtesy and provide them free of charge.

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