Primary Care Coding Alert

Include unit/floor time in 99356-99357 unless payer instructs otherwise A minor word change to inpatient prolonged service codes may force you to count time differently based on payer. AMA Considers Unit/Floor Time a Direct Service Codes +99356 (Prolonged physician service in the inpatient setting, requiring unit/floor time beyond the usual service; first hour [List separately in addition to code for inpatient Evaluation and Management service]) and +99357 (- each additional 30 minutes [List separately in addition to code for prolonged physician service) now specify "unit/floor time" instead of "direct [face-to-face] patient contact." From the AMA's perspective, all the work the physician provides on the unit/floor providing E/M services for the patient can go toward face-to-face prolonged services. Medicare Limits 99356-99357 to Patient Time Physicians will still need to specify face-to-face minutes, not unit/floor time minutes, when coding for Medicare (and other payers that follow Medicare rules). Medicare still counts unit/floor [...]