Primary Care Coding Alert

File claims for non-consult services, but make sure patient knows some preop E/Ms arent covered. Your FP provides a preoperative E/M service. This is automatically a consultation & right? Wrong. Not all pre-op E/Ms qualify as consults. Separate myth from fact with this pre-op consult FAQ: 1: Who Needs Pre-Op Consults? Typically, patients who get pre-op consults have a chronic or comorbid medical condition, confirms Tina Landskroener, CPC, CCS-P, PCS, business office manager for Blessing Physician Services in Quincy, Ill. If the surgeon believes the patient has an underlying condition that could complicate the outcome of the surgery, a preoperative consultation by the primary care physician may be necessary, she says. When a patient is taking medication or undergoing long-term treatment for a condition, it increases the odds that he will require a consultation before a major surgical procedure. Some examples of chronic conditions that might necessitate pre-op consult include: [...]