Wiki Appointment for ED visit -

[jkoerner]

Would it still be an considered an Emergency Dept visit that would code 99281- 99285, if the patient registers online, makes an appointment and waits at home until appointment time before arriving in Emergency Dept?

 

[jimbo1231]

Interesting Question

There are companies out there that provide queing services for EDs. Basically the potential patient reserves a spot "in Line" prior to arriving at the ED. Kind of the Disneyworld approach to waiting. The person of course is put in line only with non life threatening emergencies. Some industry experts have questioned whether this is really emergency Medicine and whether there are potential COBRA violations since the patient is pre-registering. But as far as I know since the patient is coming to an ED and not makeing an appoinment but reserving a place on line, billing as an ED visit (they are arriving at the EDc POS) is so far Ok. Also it is good hospital marketing and these companies are catching on.

If that is the case with your example an ED visit is OK. But if they are truley making an appointment and there is an appointment schedule on site, it would be questionable coding it as an ED visit.