Wiki What can we bill when Dr is on vacation?

[sjsantjer]

We are a Dermatology clinic and our doctor is on vacation for a week. No other provider in the office. We have patients coming in that need dressing changes, multi-layer compression bandage changes, IM injection of Kenelog or Stelara, or a pregnancy test for Accutane. Are there any services we can bill for if the doctor is out of the office on vacation? Thank you.

 

[Pam Warren]

Incident-to services that you are describing require direct supervision, meaning the provider must be in the office. Essentially, you can bill nothing if there is no supervising physician. The only thing we can do without a supervising physician here in NH are flu shots. Otherwise, there needs to be a physician in the office suite.

Consider this: Besides being a billing issue, it's also a safety issue. What would happen if you administered the Kenalog and the patient had a reaction?