Wiki Is it mandatory for a provider to sign the encoutner form?

[kmrobbins15]

I have always heard that it was strongly suggested that the providers sign off on the encounter forms when given to billing to be posted. Does anyone know if this is mandatory or just strongly suggested. If it is mandatory then where can I find this information?
Thanks!

 

[Pam Warren]

The encounter form is a billing tool. Correct coding means that you bill out the CPT and diagnosis codes based entirely on the physician's documentation (progress note, operative note, etc.) that corresponds to the service. The billing tool is just a 'reminder' that a service took place, but you should code entirely based on the documentation.

If you bill based only on the fee ticket, then I'd recommend you have a signature, if only to act as the provider's acknowledgement that you will bill out what they indicated. The problem is that they may document something entirely different from what's on the fee ticket.