Psychiatry Coding & Reimbursement Alert

Reader Question:

Understand if You Can Receive Additional Pay for ECT During IPF Stay

Question: How do I get reimbursed when a patient with psychiatric disorder receives electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) during an inpatient psychiatric facility (IPF) admission?

California Subscriber

Answer: Costs are doubled for IPF stays that provide for this service as well. An extra payment is due to the IPF for each session of the ECT on the patient. In case a patient happens to receive ECT during the stay, the facility should bill the total number of ECT treatments provided to the patient during their IPF stay listed under “Service Units” to get the additional amount. Remember to mention the total number of ECT treatments in the “service units” category.

The Federal per diem base rate for 2016 is $743.73 and an additional ECT rate of $320.19 (FY 2016 CMS update for IPF PPS). If your facility hasn’t reported quality data for FY 2016 payment, you will receive a final FY 2016 per diem rate of $729.10 and FY 2016 ECT payment per treatment of $313.89.