Billing date of service versus date report was read?

[tawnyagarrett]

There is a disagreement in my office about when to bill certain services. We do billing for the physician services only. Some say to bill on the date the services were rendered. Some say to bill the date our physician read the report. Example: patient comes into the hospital outpatient area to have an echocardiogram on 8/1/12, the facility will obviously bill for that DOS and technical componant. Our phyisician reads the echo report on 8/3/12 at his desk in the office and dictates his findings. Which date do I bill with? And which POS do I bill with? Some say to bill POS where the patient is when services are rendered, but others say to bill POS where our physician is at when he reads the report.

[GPAUL9]

I have billed outpatient for 13 years. The DOS is the actual date the procedure was done and the POS is the place the procedure was done.
And from my experience as a medical biller before I started coding: the physicians bill must match the facility's bill..DOS & POS, if not you will most likely get a rejection from the payor.

[Jim Pawloski]

Originally Posted by tawnyagarrett

There is a disagreement in my office about when to bill certain services. We do billing for the physician services only. Some say to bill on the date the services were rendered. Some say to bill the date our physician read the report. Example: patient comes into the hospital outpatient area to have an echocardiogram on 8/1/12, the facility will obviously bill for that DOS and technical componant. Our phyisician reads the echo report on 8/3/12 at his desk in the office and dictates his findings. Which date do I bill with? And which POS do I bill with? Some say to bill POS where the patient is when services are rendered, but others say to bill POS where our physician is at when he reads the report.

IMO I would bill on the date of service. I have a physician who is about 1 1/2 months behind on his dictations, so I can't use the date he dictates. The report should be on what they did and what what was found on the date of service.

HTH,
Jim Pawloski, CIRCC

[Gwen Davis]

Noridian may have a different take on this- https://www.noridianmedicare.com/pro...stic_Tests.pdf

Date of Service (DOS) Codes
As of July 1, 2010, Medicare contractors will consider, and providers must remember, that the appropriate DOS for the professional component is the actual calendar date that the interpretation was performed. For example, if the test or technical component was performed on April 30th and the interpretation was read on May 2nd, the actual calendar date or DOS for the performance of the test is April 30th and the actual calendar date or DOS for the interpretation or read of the test is May 2nd
But pretty clearly they follow the "date it was performed" aka - if the test (TC portion of the diagnostic test was done on 9-1-12, and the Interpretation (26 portion was read 9-3-12) then the claim would be billed accordingly

77055-26 DOS 9/3/12
77055-tc DOS 9/1/12

EKG
93010 DOS 9/3/12
93005 DOS 9/1/12

Hope this helps-

[alasley]

I believe that article was rescinded.

http://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Educ...ads/MM6375.pdf

[Gwen Davis]

Originally Posted by alasley

I believe that article was rescinded.

http://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Educ...ads/MM6375.pdf

Heres a more recent article- with diagnostic testing info
http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-G...ds/R2407CP.pdf