Wiki consultation vs referral

[mrsseeling]

I am wanting to make sure that I am coding consultations correctly.
Example: Patient is sent to my surgeon by a family practice physician for a breast lesion. After performing an evaluation and management on the patient, the surgeon decides that the patient needs to have a breast lesion removal in the OR setting.
I would bill this out as a consult, is this correct coding or should this be a regular EM code for a referral?

 

[mitchellde]

If the primary care provider sent the patient to you for an opinion of what the problem is or what the proper treatment might be and is expecting a report with recommendations from your surgeon then it is a consult. If the PCP sent the patient to your surgeon with a known lesion with the recommendation that your surgeon perform an excision, then it is an office visit.