Wiki consults - quick question?

[cherylann.knighton]

hi!
quick question? Consult
Medicare patient (outpatient)
Pt was admitted to Observation by hospitalist. My General Surgeon was requested to consult and performed an EGD on that visit.
I know we can't use consult codes. Would it be appropriate to use 99218 with the EDG code? The hospitalist also used 99218 but should the AI modifier be attached to the hospitalist e/m?
Thanks for your help!

 

[jdibble]

hi!
quick question? Consult
Medicare patient (outpatient)
Pt was admitted to Observation by hospitalist. My General Surgeon was requested to consult and performed an EGD on that visit.
I know we can't use consult codes. Would it be appropriate to use 99218 with the EDG code? The hospitalist also used 99218 but should the AI modifier be attached to the hospitalist e/m?
Thanks for your help!

According to Medicare, for a consult for a patient in Observation, the consulting doctor would use the appropriate out-patient code depending on whether the patient is new or established to that provider (99201-99205 or 99212-99215). If your physician sees this patient the following day for a follow-up, they would also use the outpatient codes. For Observation, only the attending doctor uses the Observation codes.

Hope that helps!

 

[cherylann.knighton]

Thank you!!!