Wiki Billing patient for office visit after 17110's global period

[JesseL]

How do I explain to a patient why we need to bill her for her copay. Patient had a wart treatment (17110) a month ago and she feels that she doesn't have to pay for post op visits.

I believe we are allowed to bill for an office visit if the patient returns after the global to recheck if the wart grew back but not if she came back within the global.

The provider did tell the patient to return in 2 to 4 weeks to check if the wart grew back and I have a feeling the patient will say something along the lines of "then the Dr should have told me to come back within 10 days so you cant charge me!"

 

[cldavenport]

If it's within global period, no copay of course. But if patient comes back for office visit outside of global period then a copay would be due. You can explain that to the patient. If the patient needs more explanation, he/she can call the health plan for more info. Copay stipulations are in the contract.