Wiki Billing Post op visits to Workmans comp carriers

[klamond]

I work for a group practice where two of the MDs use a separate billing company. That company bills post op visits (99024) to Workman's compensation carriers with a charge of $250.00 and are getting paid!!! Has anyone heard of this? I want to get on top of this before the other MDs catch wind and want to do the same. I do not feel its proper or even ethical, at that, if they are following the rules of CPT. The treatment after the surgery is included in the surgery code for a certain time frame. Any thoughts?

 

[swtptweet]

Wormans's Comp

You cannot charge for a post op visit. At our practice we put it on the claim only if there is a test done in the post-op visit. We will include the code 99024 but enter $0 for the charge amount. Getting paid for a post op within the global period is wrong on the payers part. In my opinion, you need to call the Workers Comp insurance and JUST ask them what there global period is. If the charge is within global and the WC insurance paid let them know. Eventually they will figure out the mistake and take back the payment.