Wiki Phone Visit In-Office

[lilleyea]

We had a patient present to the office for a follow-up appointment, however, when the patient arrived they were noted to have a cough with active COVID, so the patient was placed in a room and the provider conducted the visit over the phone. Both the provider and the patient were in the same office, but the provider did not physically see the patient, the entire visit with the provider was over the phone. There was no video portion completed, only audio. Would this be billed as a phone visit (99441-99443) or an office visit (99212-99215)? Thanks in advance!

 

[jkyles]

Hi there,
The office/outpatient visit requires a face-to-face encounter or a real-time audio and video connection if you're doing it via telehealth.

Assuming the visit meets all of the other requirements (and the doctor documented the time), I could see reporting it as a telephone E/M encounter. Make sure the provider documents the circumstances in case you're audited years down the road and the auditor sees that the patient was in the office.

Of course, you should check with the payer to see if it has any special instructions for these one-off events.

 

[lilleyea]

Thanks so much, that is what I was leaning toward also, I just wasn't sure if the office E/M would be more appropriate since the nursing staff triaged him and interacted with him. Thanks for the clarification!