Wiki CPT and Dx Coding for Medical Marijuana/Cannabis

[quinn1234@tampabay.rr.com]

I work for a Hem/Med Onc in Florida who wants to start seeing and prescribing medical cannabis to qualified cancer patients. I have seen several other posts on the matter and they have helped answer some of my questions regarding the coding for these encounters. However, it got me thinking about whether these encounters need to be seperate from the normal oncology follow up visits or can they be included in the same dictated note? My inital take was they should be seperate, but now i am not so sure. I am assuming one would be using 99201-99205 for the inital visit and 99211-99215 for any follow up visits? or is there a different set of E/M codes that should be used? (Chronic Care (99490) or Unlisted E/M Procedure (99499) for example)?
Do these require any type of referral or authorization from managed care PCP's?

Is anyone getting paid from by a payer for these visits? Especially in Florida?

Than you for your assistance in this matter.

Greg

 

[mitchellde]

medical cannabis should be treated no different than any other prescription medication. You use the regular new or established visit levels and you use the medical diagnosis that requires the prescription. Do not use the F12 codes for cannabis use abuse or dependence as this is a drug being legally prescribed in this state and is no different from prescribing Percocet or morphine. If you patient were addicted to cannabis and or abusing it or recreationally using it then your provider would not be prescribing it for legal use. so code it the same as you would if this patient were being prescribed Percocet for their pain.

 

[CodingKing]

Separate note is not needed since its discussed just like any other treatment options. To answer the managed care part, same as above treated just like any other medical condition. if they need a referral or auth for specialist it would be no different here.