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Podiatry Coding & Billing Alert

Reader Questions:

Pre-Op vs. Post-Op Consult

Published on Sat Jan 23, 2010

Question: Our podiatrist handled the preoperative consultation for a surgical case and was asked to see the patient again after surgery. Can we bill an E/M service for this? Washington Subscriber Answer: If the surgeon asks the podiatrist back after surgery, you can bill an E/M service for this. Whether you can report a consult (99241-99255) depends on the payer. CPT has no limitation on the use of consultation codes before and after surgery but the consult always must be medically necessary. Catch: Medicare does not recognize consultations, as of Jan. 1, 2010. Instead, you must report outpatient (99201-99215) or inpatient (99221-99233) E/M services in place of consult codes to Medicare.
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