Wiki Immigration Physical

[Belinda Frisch]

Does anyone have any information (documentation guidelines or coding guidelines) for "immigration physicals".

Our hospital-based physician offices see patients that are immigrating to the U.S., some have insurance and some don't. Their visits include a complete physical, lab work, and completion of required immigration forms.

The current practice is to "carve out" certain labs and to charge the patient out of pocket. As I am not in these clinics, my understanding of what actually occurs is limited.

I cannot find anything that allows such a carve-out and my gut warns of a potential breech of payer contract. Does anyone do these or know where I can find more information? Google just isn't helping me out.

Thanks!

 

[kari2007]

We do immigration physicals at our clinic and we code them as new or established preventative exams. Usually the patient doesnt have any insurance, so we collect the fee for the physical and the lab work and any other charges that same day. If they have insurance, we send it to them with the v70.3 diagnosis code. Hope this helps.