Primary Care Coding Alert

Question: One of our longtime patients now lives in a skilled nursing facility. She wants to continue visiting our office although the nursing facility has physicians who would see her. Can we still see her, and, if so, do we bill anything differently?Maryland Subscriber/Answer: Yes, she can still see your physicians in their office, and you should bill her visits as usual. Complications might arise, however, with any diagnostics your physicians run while she's in the office (such as EKG or spirometry tests). Because she's a skilled nursing facility resident, she falls under guidelines for the Consolidated Billing for Nursing Homes. That means Medicare pays the nursing facility for the technical portion of certain diagnostic tests. Learn what diagnostics the guidelines cover so you can accommodate with your billing.Example: The patient has an EKG in your office. You should report 93010 (Electrocardiogram, routine ECG with at least 12 leads; interpretation [...]