Wiki Observation visit same day 2 providers

[sknapp56]

I would like other coders opinions on an observation stay at the hospital. Physician A who was on call saw the patient in the AM and admitted her to observation. Physician B saw this patient later in the day and discharged her home. Both physician are from the same group practice. How would you bill this? Because the physicians are from the same group I believe I can only code one service. The admit dictation does not meet the low level observaton admit code, but the discharge dictation meets the observation discharge code.
Thank you for your help

 

[DamaraA]

In our midwife practice, we deal with these regularly. We have two midwives and one MD on call for each calendar day. The method we use is that if only the midwives see the patient (lower complexity), then the last midwife to see the patient that day is the billing provider. If the condition requires the MD to see the patient (higher complexity), then the E/M is billed out under the physician. As long as they share the same TIN and specialty, you can bill the appropriate E/M based on ALL documentation from your providers. If they are not the same TIN or specialty, then each can bill their own E/M (provided documentation supports it).