Practice Management Alert

Bonus: A new code for e-visits is also on the horizon If your physician is on the cutting edge of the technology boom, you face the daunting task of trying to bill for the electronic services he provides. Good news: Starting Jan. 1, your coding life may get easier with new telephone service and e-visit codes. Look Forward to Time-Based Phone Codes Three new codes for 2008 will allow you to report the telephone E/M services your physician performs based on the phone call length. Old way: The current telephone service codes -- 99371-99373 (Telephone call by a physician to patient or for consultation or medical management or for coordinating medical management with other healthcare professionals ...) -- depend on the call's complexity level. You-re forced to decide if the call is simple, intermediate or complex in order to be able to choose a proper code. With the new codes, you can eliminate that decision. CPT 2008 will delete 99371-99373 and replace them with three new time-based codes: - 99441 -- Telephone evaluation and management service provided by a physician to an established patient, parent, or guardian not originating from a related E/M service provided within the previous 7 days nor leading to an E/M service or procedure within the next 24 hours or soonest available appointment; 5-10 minutes of medical discussion - 99442 -- - 11-20 minutes of medical discussion - 99443 -- - 21-30 minutes of medical discussion. "While these codes are primarily reported based on the time spent communicating with the patient, proximity of in-office services will also determine whether the call can be charged," says Cindy Parman, CPC, CPC-H, RCC, co-owner of Coding Strategies in Powder Springs, Ga. Note: The telephone call is a non-face-to-face E/M service. For you to code for it, the patient must already be established with your office. Also, you cannot report a telephone service code if the physician call takes place within seven days of a recent previous visit, a surgical or diagnostic procedure, or a scheduled upcoming E/M service. CPT considers these part of a previous or upcoming visit and billable as part of the subsequent E/M code chosen. "I think that time-based reporting versus trying to determine what is -simple,- -intermediate- or -complex- is definitely a good thing," says Denae M. Merrill, CPC, physician coder for Covenant HIM in Saginaw, Mich. "You then have a clear-cut definition of what is what. A provider will then know what is important to document, and a coder will know what code is most appropriate, and there will be no room for arguing." How it works: The new time-based telephone call codes will not only have a seven-day pre-global period, but can also [...]