Medical Billing Forum
Billing => Billing => : Michele March 12, 2008, 09:24:52 AM
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Question
Hello.
we have a patient who had a surgical procedure on 12-06. the patient had a post op visit 5-07 and another visit on 7-07 where he charged the patient for a established visit, 99211 for $69. he said he charged the patient because he had to do consultations with other doctors and it was an extensive visit.
what is the rule on charging patients for visits after a surgical procedure?
thank you.
JK
Answer
Hi JK,
Thanks for your question. The policy on charging patients for office visits following surgery depends on certain circumstances. For example follow up care for surgery includes only care that which is usually part of a surgical service. Any complications, exacerbations, recurrence, or the presence of other diseases or injuries requiring additional services should be billed separately.
It sounds like the patient you are referring to required post op care that was above what is normally required for the surgical procedure that they had performed. If that is the case, the dr was justified in billing for his/her service and should have billed for the amount of time actually spent on the patient. However if the visit was what is usually required for a patient who had that surgical procedure then billing for an additional visit would not be warranted.
Hope that clears it up!
Thanks
Michele