Wiki Medicare Annual Wellness exams on same day as office visit

[dsmoon]

does the Medicare Annual Wellness visit include the provider discussing and treating a patient's chronic conditions (including refilling meds) or can you bill a separate E/M without the condition being a new problem or exacerbated?
Our providers are being told that if they refill patient meds at the time of the AWV visit then they can bill an additional office visit charge. Any help or advise as to how your clinic approaches these would be appreciated
We are getting a lot of push back from our providers when we are doing their annual audits

 

[rthomas@impcna.com]

does the Medicare Annual Wellness visit include the provider discussing and treating a patient's chronic conditions (including refilling meds) or can you bill a separate E/M without the condition being a new problem or exacerbated?
Our providers are being told that if they refill patient meds at the time of the AWV visit then they can bill an additional office visit charge. Any help or advise as to how your clinic approaches these would be appreciated
We are getting a lot of push back from our providers when we are doing their annual audits

Yes, you can do an AWV and Chronic Visit E/M the same day. Provider can either complete 2 separate notes or just 1 note but it must be able to support both visits. We have a nurse who is dedicated to AWVs. She sees the patient prior to the provider and does the majority of the AWV then the provider goes in to see that patient, reviews the AWV, and also does the chronic follow-up.
I have attached a FAQ Novitas which is our MAC in Mississippi.

 

[kdlberg]

I actually just finished an audit specifically for AWVs.

What I would ask myself was, "if I took out everything that was only for the AWV (health risk assessment, updated screening schedule, preventive health advice, etc.), would I still have enough to support for an E/M visit?" A lot of times the answer was yes; most of the patients had multiple, serious chronic conditions and they were addressed by more than just "continue to monitor."