Wiki Outpaient vs Observation

[kander82]

Would anyone bill a 99212-99215 instead of observation codes for hospital visits. The hospital reports says outpatient instead of observation.

 

[kte01a]

I would think it would depend on the documentation. It would be rare for an outpatient hospital to be just that outpatient...unless it is one of those circumstances where you have a hosptial owned outpatient clinic.

 

[dclark7]

Depends on who placed the patient in observation status. The observation codes are for the attending physician to use, others who see the patient would use the outpatient codes. If the patient is NOT a medicare patient the intial visit can be coded as an outpatient consult IF it meets the definition for consults