See How to Bill This NP Shared Service
Question: A doctor saw a patient with a nurse practitioner (NP). The NP recorded the documentation, but the doctor signed the note, saying that they agreed with the NP. The physician said they spent more than 50 percent of the time with the patient but didn’t provide any documentation, including specific times. Should I bill this under the NP for providing the services? AUDITCON Attendee Answer: Reporting split and shared services for evaluation and management (E/M) encounters can be confusing to categorize and report; but according to the information you’ve provided about this scenario, you should bill these services as being provided by the NP. “If the NP did the note, and the NP did the visit, and the doctor just co-signs? That’s not going to work — it’s the NP’s visit,” said Christine Hall, CPC, CDEO, CPB, CPMA, CRC, CPC-I, CEMC, in her AUDITCON 2025 presentation “Incident To and Split/Shared Services.” And remember the foundation of reporting any service or documentation: If it’s not reported, it didn’t happen. “If you can’t prove it, it didn’t happen,” Hall said. Rachel Dorrell, MA, MS, CPC-A, CPPM, Production Editor, AAPC
