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Anesthesia Coding Alert

READER QUESTIONS:

Bill 99201-99205 for Orthopedic H&P

Published on Wed Jul 20, 2005

Question: Can we bill for a patient's history and physical when we provide the anesthesia for an orthopedic procedure? Must the surgeon be a DO or a DPM before we can charge for it?


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Answer: Anesthesiologists often are asked to perform H&Ps on behalf of physicians who are not credentialed to do admission physical exams and histories, such as podiatrists. Some coders say they have trouble getting reimbursed for the service only when it occurs on the same day as the procedure; they have no reimbursement problems when the anesthesiologist performs the H&P several days in advance.

If your anesthesiologist admits the patient as an outpatient for the other physician, report the correct code from 99201-99205 (Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of a new patient ...). If the patient is to be admitted as an inpatient, it is better to have an internist or other physician admit the patient and follow him through his hospital stay.
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