Wiki hospital observation

[melissalynnfalkowski]

Ok question.
If a pt is admitted to observation on mon at 7 pm
My dr does not see him until tues at 8 am, and does the admission and discharge and pt is discharged before 7 pm
do they bill admit discharge same day?
or jsut discharge
Its under 24 hours but not sure if it needs to be same calendar day?
Thank you

 

[jdibble]

Ok question.
If a pt is admitted to observation on mon at 7 pm
My dr does not see him until tues at 8 am, and does the admission and discharge and pt is discharged before 7 pm
do they bill admit discharge same day?
or jsut discharge
Its under 24 hours but not sure if it needs to be same calendar day?
Thank you

If your doctor saw the patient for admit and discharge on the same date then I would use the codes 99234-99236 for same day OBS as long as he is the admitting doctor. If he was called in for a consult then you would use outpatient codes accordingly - 99202-99215 for Medicare and any other insurance that does not recognize consult codes and the outpatient consult codes for those that do.

Hope that helps!