Sueedwards
True Blue
A doctor asked me an interesting question about a case and I thought I would get some other opinions prior to answering him:
A patient is an inpatient. She falls in her hospital room. The oncall doctor for her does not want to come in to the hospital. The ER doctor was too busy to go upstairs to see the patient. The patient was brought down to the ER to have suturing done on her scalp. She was returned to her inpatient room.
So my question is: Does our doctor have the right to bill an E/M code with the suturing - or since she is already an inpatient, would he just get the suturing procedure?
Any suggestions??
Thanks,
Sue
A patient is an inpatient. She falls in her hospital room. The oncall doctor for her does not want to come in to the hospital. The ER doctor was too busy to go upstairs to see the patient. The patient was brought down to the ER to have suturing done on her scalp. She was returned to her inpatient room.
So my question is: Does our doctor have the right to bill an E/M code with the suturing - or since she is already an inpatient, would he just get the suturing procedure?
Any suggestions??
Thanks,
Sue