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Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

Reader Questions:

Extra Time Can Be Part of 99241-99245 Consult Codes

Published on Sun Nov 27, 2011

Question:Our neurologist provides pre-op consultations for requesting surgeons. He completed the consult with a recent patient, but also spent quite a bit of time discussing and focusing on some of the patient's health issues. Can we bill that separately as education or counseling (or a problem-focused visit), or is it included in the consult? Illinois Subscriber Answer:Anything discussed as part of a consult is included in that encounter's consultation code. That's one difference between consultations and preventive visits, when you might be able to code separately for discussing "problems."For the consultation code, choose from 99241-99245 (Office consultation for a new or established patient, which requires these three components ...). You can code consultations based purely on time if the physician spends more than 50 percent of his face-to-face time with the patient on counseling or coordination of care. Because of this, the extra time your physician spent discussing the patient's [...]
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