Wiki EARLY INTERVENTION

[aviprasad]

I am coming to all of you for more information on consults. The scenarios that are coming up is our physical therapists, occupational therapist and speech therapist are going to appointments with our patients for such things as swallow studies or wheelchair fittings etc. The question is should they be able to bill for their time for being at these appointments. They do chart what was told to them by the providers providing the testings or fittings and they will use this knowledge for future visits for treatment. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Pathos]

Since those therapists are not performing any service at the appointments you are describing, I do not think they should be able to bill any services. If anything, they are there as a support person/advocate, but I do not know of any insurance carrier which would accept a claim for these types of services.

 

[Mayzoo]

I might be misunderstanding the question, but here are some CPTs:

A swallow study is CPT 92610, if it was ordered and the study meets CPT criteria.

A wheelchair fitting is CPT 97542 (wheelchair management), if it was ordered and the visit meets CPT criteria.

 

[aviprasad]

We have providers that support families while they go to swallow studies or fittings for equipment. they are not doing the fittings or study however are there to help the parent understand the studies and get correct fittings. They do chart their findings and often times will use the information for future treatments. I can't bill a swallow study because they didn't do the swallow study, they were just there to get the information from the provider who did the study. Is there a code we can use for this so the provider gets paid for their time?