Wiki Get Established

[dimme85]

What dx do you use when a Medicare patient comes in just to get established with the physician? Often times we get patients who are new to the area, and really have no chief complaint other then wanting to get established with the physician. They may have a variety of conditions that are under control with their medications, but nothing at the time that is giving them problems.
And will Medicare pay for this?

 

[thomas7331]

We have this issue too. 'Establishing care' is not in itself enough to justify medical necessity of a service even if you could find a good diagnosis code for this. I've found that this is more of a documentation and provider education issue than a diagnosis issue. If the patients are coming in because they do have chronic conditions that require management, then ideally the providers should document as reason for the visit that they are taking on the management of those problems.