Example: Patient is admitted on 5/1 to hospital and PCP does not see patient in the hospital until 5/2 and does their admit documentation and also decides to discharge patient same day.
I am confused about the following- The stay was more than 8 hours but the physician only saw the patient once on 5/2. The admit face to face was not 8 hours apart from the discharge face to face with patient.
Does it matter for selecting admit/discharge codes (99234-99236) that the admit face to face and discharge face to face was not separate parts of the day but done at same time by physician?
I think the rules for Medicare and other insurances differ regarding the patient stay length and choosing these codes also....
Thank you in advance for you help!
I am confused about the following- The stay was more than 8 hours but the physician only saw the patient once on 5/2. The admit face to face was not 8 hours apart from the discharge face to face with patient.
Does it matter for selecting admit/discharge codes (99234-99236) that the admit face to face and discharge face to face was not separate parts of the day but done at same time by physician?
I think the rules for Medicare and other insurances differ regarding the patient stay length and choosing these codes also....
Thank you in advance for you help!