Wiki phone call - location of patient

[dragonclawz70]

When billing the phone call codes (99441 through 99443) does anyone know if the criteria for patient's location are the same as when billing telehealth visits? Thank you! I've been researching the audio only codes and can't find any specific information on that particular question.

 

[Ruddan]

Is this what you're looking for?

MLN Policy - https://www.cms.gov/files/document/mln901705-telehealth-services.pdf

Telehealth Services MLN Fact Sheet

Place of Service (POS) Codes: For 2023, continue billing telehealth claims with the POS indicator you’d bill for an in-person visit.

You must use Modifier 95 to identify them as telehealth through December 31, 2023.

After December 31, 2023, use POS 02-Telehealth to indicate you provided the billed service as a

professional telehealth service when the originating site is other than the patient’s home. Use POS

10-Telehealth for services when the patient is in their home.

 

[dragonclawz70]

Hi - thank you, I do have that information. I'm going to advise my providers when billing for phone calls they should treat the phone calls as a telehealth visit and follow the same rules. I did find that the documentation for phone calls needs to include why the patient can't do an audio/video visit, so following that train of thought, they should follow the same rules that apply to telehealth visits.

 

[jkyles]

Hi - thank you, I do have that information. I'm going to advise my providers when billing for phone calls they should treat the phone calls as a telehealth visit and follow the same rules. I did find that the documentation for phone calls needs to include why the patient can't do an audio/video visit, so following that train of thought, they should follow the same rules that apply to telehealth visits.

For Medicare, under the PHE waiver extension that is in place until Dec. 31, 2024, you don't need to justify the use of audio-only services.

 

[dragonclawz70]

I've read several articles that state you should document why the patient can't do a telehealth visit, so I'm not sure about that. I think better safe than sorry, in the long run