Primary Care Coding Alert

Question: Our physician saw a patient in the office, then admitted her to the hospital later the same day. Can we bill for the office visit and the first day of admission, or do we just bill for the hospital stay?Answer: The answer depends on whether the physician sees the patient on the same day in the hospital.Scenario 1: If the physician sees the patient in the hospital on the same day he saw her in the office, you're looking at two face-toface visits on the same date. Report only the appropriate initial hospital care code (99221-99223, Initial hospital care, per day, for the evaluation and management of a patient ...). According to CPT coding guidelines, all initial hospital care services that begin in another place of location (such as the physician's office) should be combined and coded using the appropriate level of initial hospital care. Since the 99221-99223 code [...]