Pulmonology Coding Alert

Question: Our respiratory therapists frequently hand out free samples to patients – usually in the form of tubing or oxygen masks. We had an outside billing firm tell us that this is a non-compliant practice. Is this accurate? Could we get into trouble for this?

Codify Subscriber

Answer: No. According to the Health and Human Services Department Office for Civil Rights (OCR), “In face-to-face encounters, the HIPAA Privacy Rule allows covered entities to give or discuss products or services, even when not health-related, to patients without a prior authorization. This exception prevents unnecessary intrusion into the doctor-patient relationship.

“Physicians may give out free pharmaceutical samples, regardless of their value. Similarly, hospitals may give infant supplies to new mothers. Moreover, the face-to-face exception would allow providers to leave general circulation materials in their offices for patients to pick up during office visits.”

Therefore, if you hand out oxygen materials or other items at no charge to your patients during face-to-face encounters, you shouldn’t have any issues, as long as there are no conflicting state laws on the books in your area.