Question: New Mexico Subscriber Answer: If your physician sees a patient any time within a 36-month period, that patient is considered established, regardless of the reasons for the visits. This is the AMA's "three-year rule." You should go by this rule even if another physician in your practice sees the patient, as long as it's within the 36 months. Location is not a factor either, in the event your practice has more than one location. Why: Caution: The rules change a bit if you are operating in a multi-specialty practice. If a physician of a different specialty sees a patient for the first time, you may consider the patient to be "new" even if he has seen other physicians in other specialties within the group practice during the previous three years.