Pediatric Coding Alert

Question: How many minutes will the new telephone call codes contain?


Ohio Subscriber


Answer: The three new telephone call codes in CPT 2008 describe: "Telephone evaluation and management service provided by a physician to an established patient, parent, or guardian not originating from a related E/M service provided within the previous 7 days nor leading to an E/M service or procedure within the next 24 hours or soonest available appointment."

Clip and save your minute-to-code breakdowns, which include:

Watch out: You should not use a new time-based telephone call code (99441-99443) when the exchange leads to an office visit. If you provide phone counseling and then see the patient within 24 hours or the next available visit, you forfeit the call code. "You would report only the E/M service, such as 99212-99215 (Office or other outpatient visit for the E/M of an established patient ...)," says Richard H. Tuck, MD, FAAP, a pediatrician at PrimeCare of Southeastern Ohio in Zanesville.

Why: "The idea is that the phone call should prevent in-office treatment," Tuck says. q Answers to You Be the Coder and Reader Questions provided/reviewed by Emily Hill, PA-C, president of Hill & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in coding and compliance in Wilmington, N.C.; Charles A. Scott, MD, FAAP, a pediatrician at Medford Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine in New Jersey; Richard H. Tuck, MD, FAAP, a pediatrician at PrimeCare of Southeastern Ohio in Zanesville; and Marie West, CCS-P, CMSCS, CCP, a national coding educator and president of Coder eSource, a coding and compliance education and consulting firm in Edmond, Okla.