Wiki Established vs. New patient

[Jlokloski]

I have a scenario with a patient that was in the office to have an echocardiogram and had a holter monitor placed by the nurse and then both reports were read by the doctor but the patient had not been seen by the doctor in three years so there was no actual face to face visit by the doctor. We still billed both services under the doctors number because he read the reports. Is this new or established.

Thank you for your help.

 

[Kris78]

If you are billing an E/M and the patient has not seen the physician in over 3 years, then he/she is considered NEW.

 

[CodingKing]

There is no face to face component of these 2 procedures so when the office visit happens it will be a new patient.