Ob-Gyn Coding Alert

Question: My physician usually has a patient return to the office for a postoperative visit about two weeks after a minor surgical procedure, barring any problems or complications. He does not bill for these postoperative visits, even though they are outside of the 0- to 10-day global period for these minor procedures.

Arkansas Subscriber

 
Answer: The fee paid by the insurance company includes the provision of postoperative care, and the company will assume postoperative care has been given. The CPT code refers to normal postoperative follow-up as well; only Medicare stipulates actual days to the post-op period. These visits should be considered postoperative, and they should not be billed.