Question: We had a new patient come into the office, and the physician did a complete workup, which resulted in a level-three new patient E/M visit. Later in the week, the physician called the patient to see how he was doing and to discuss any questions the patient had. The physician spent 22 minutes on the phone with the patient. The physician believes that since CPT® offers telephone codes, we should report them, but I don’t think this service is billable. Who is correct? Massachusetts Subscriber Answer: You are correct. This service is not billable as a telephone E/M service. CPT® does have three telephone service E/M codes, and they are as follows: The physician may believe that reporting 99443 seems like the right choice because he spent 22 minutes on the phone discussing the patient’s care. However, according to CPT®, if you report any of the above codes, you must make sure the situation meets the following requirements: In this situation, since you cannot report 99441-99443 within seven days of an E/M service, you cannot bill for this telephone call. Remember: Before submitting these codes, it’s a good idea to check with your payer. Most do not recognize these codes and thus will reject or deny the claim. You may want to develop a process to alert the patient about possible denial and responsibility.