Pulmonology Coding Alert

Question: The pulmonologist admits a 78-year-old established Medicare patient suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as an inpatient for an acute exacerbation. The next day, a fully licensed nonphysician practitioner (NPP) performs an expanded problem focused history and an expanded problem focused exam to check the patient's condition. Approximately four hours later, the pulmonologist meets with the patient, orders pulmonary function tests, and performs a brief pulmonary exam. Is this a shared visit? Maine Subscriber Answer: This E/M may qualify for shared/split visit reporting if the pulmonologist and the NPP are part of the same provider group (employed by the same entity) -- but be sure to satisfy Medicare's specific documentation guidelines for the claim. Report the following codes: • 99232 (Subsequent hospital care, per day, for the evaluation and management of a patient, which requires at least 2 of these 3 key components: an expanded problem focused interval history; [...]