rselvidge3
New
So I need some help/clarification coding initial hospitalist visits. I work for a group of hospitalists, and they often admit to the hospital or nursing home after the patient is seen in the ER. They code many of their encounters as 99306's (high level), but by the time they see the patient and admit them the patient is already often stable (especially if being transferred/admitted to a nursing home). In nearly all cases it is a different doctor who initially sees the patient (in the ER for example). So I am not allowed to use any of the E/M services from that encounter when assigning the level of E/M for the initial hospitalist encounter, correct? Please help clarify not only this, but for what reasons these hospitalists may be able to justify assigning high level initial nursing home visits. (for example, if they had an MI or stroke or traumatic fracture/accident or TBI or acute renal failure but are now stable once transferred, does it justify a 99306?)