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Wiki Can we bill New Patient based on time?

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Orthocoderpgu

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OK, just want to make sure we are doing this correctly. Can we bill a new patient based on time. The doc spent 60 minutes with the patient and about 40 of it was counceling the patient/family due to the patient's dementia. I was told that new patient must meet the 3 key components, so that would mean that we cannot bill by time? Thanks for your help.
 
Yes you can bill on time, if it is documented. From what you are saying it looks like you could support a 99205. The times are different than established patients and consults so be sure you have the right time for your code set.

Laura, CPC
 
As Laura said, it is OK to bill based on time for a new patient, so long as the conditions are met. A 60 minute visit would support a 99205, your doc spent more than half of the 60 minutes in counseling. The chief complaint needs to be documented (was the pt seen for the dementia or did the dementia cause the visit/counseling to take this amount of time while the pt was seen for another issue?), the time should be clearly stated and there should be an elaboration on the discussion.
 
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