Wiki family discussion

[belindapearl]

Our physcian spent 40 minutes discussing with a patients wife about his Alzheimer's disease. Can this visit be billed. The patient himself was not seen. One person in our office suggested billing a 99213 under the husbands Medicare number since the description is face to face or consulting with family member. Is this correct?

 

[kbreynolds]

family visit

You can not bill medicare unless the patient is present. We have internal codes for family visits. The family is told when making the appointment of the charge and it needs to be paid at the time of service and can not be filed to insurance. We have two depending on how much time the visits take.