Rita Bartholomew
Guru
A patient with DM and hypertension is scheduled for elective orthopedic surgery. He/she is seen as an outpatient by hospitalist on the PAT visit for co-management purposes. Hospitalist sees patient again postoperatively as an inpatient for further management of chronic medical conditions.
1) Is this a consult situation or just concurrent care with the orthopedic surgeon?
2) If consult situation applies -- the outpatient hospital visit would be consultation code (99241-99245 for non-Medicare; 99201-99215 for Medicare), but what category would the subsequent inpatient visit be -- initial or subsequent hospital care?
While the inpatient visit is technically "initial", isn't it actually "subsequent"? And is the surgeon truly asking for the hospitalist's opinion or advice -- hence, a consult -- or just transferring the care of the chronic medical conditions to the hospitalist while the patient is an inpatient for orthopedic surgery?
1) Is this a consult situation or just concurrent care with the orthopedic surgeon?
2) If consult situation applies -- the outpatient hospital visit would be consultation code (99241-99245 for non-Medicare; 99201-99215 for Medicare), but what category would the subsequent inpatient visit be -- initial or subsequent hospital care?
While the inpatient visit is technically "initial", isn't it actually "subsequent"? And is the surgeon truly asking for the hospitalist's opinion or advice -- hence, a consult -- or just transferring the care of the chronic medical conditions to the hospitalist while the patient is an inpatient for orthopedic surgery?