Wiki Medical Massage - If the massage therapist

[lkerrison]

If the massage therapist is an employee of the medical practice and is under the direct supervision of the physician, can you bill 97140? I have heard both ways on this issue and I need an expert opinion. I checked the LCD's for this code and it does not state anywhere that this service can not be performed by a massage therapist. PLEASE HELP!!

 

[ajs]

If the massage therapist is an employee of the medical practice and is under the direct supervision of the physician, can you bill 97140? I have heard both ways on this issue and I need an expert opinion. I checked the LCD's for this code and it does not state anywhere that this service can not be performed by a massage therapist. PLEASE HELP!!

This is what is listed in Encoder Pro under the CMS Pub 100 references for this code:

Incident to Physician?s Service in Clinic

B3-2050.3
Services and supplies incident to a physician's service in a physician directed clinic or group association are generally the same as those described above. A physician directed clinic is one where: 1. A physician (or a number of physicians) is present to perform medical (rather than administrative) services at all times the clinic is open; 2. Each patient is under the care of a clinic physician; and 3. The nonphysician services are under medical supervision. In highly organized clinics, particularly those that are departmentalized, direct physician supervision may be the responsibility of several physicians as opposed to an individual attending physician. In this situation, medical management of all services provided in the clinic is assured. The physician ordering a particular service need not be the physician who is supervising the service. Therefore, services performed by auxiliary personnel and other aides are covered even though they are performed in another department of the clinic. Supplies provided by the clinic during the course of treatment are also covered. When the auxiliary personnel perform services outside the clinic premises, the services are covered only if performed under the direct supervision of a clinic physician. If the clinic refers a patient for auxiliary services performed by personnel who are not supervised by clinic physicians, such services are not incident to a physician's service.