Medical Billing Forum

General Category => General Questions => : jcfenfen September 22, 2010, 08:35:35 PM

: Which modifer to use?
: jcfenfen September 22, 2010, 08:35:35 PM
Hi,

I am billing for a primary care physician who saw the patient in the nursing home and admitted the patient in the hospital on the same day, so what should I do with the modifier?  I separate the claims for the nursing home and for the hospital, but I don't think I can bill two procedure codes on the same day(one might be rejected), or can I do that?   Thanks a lot for any input
: Re: Which modifer to use?
: oneround September 23, 2010, 09:25:31 PM
 In my experience to bill for an inpatient admission (99221-99223), Medicare requires that you provide initial inpatient service to the patient at the hospital and document what you provided. You cannot bill for two visits services on the same day. However, you don’t have to lose reimbursement for the services. You can combine the SNF and the hospital inpatient admission and choose your level of   service based on that. In many cases, the inpatient admission has higher reimbursement than the SNF visit.
: Re: Which modifer to use?
: jcfenfen September 24, 2010, 05:01:14 PM
In my experience to bill for an inpatient admission (99221-99223), Medicare requires that you provide initial inpatient service to the patient at the hospital and document what you provided. You cannot bill for two visits services on the same day. However, you don’t have to lose reimbursement for the services. You can combine the SNF and the hospital inpatient admission and choose your level of   service based on that. In many cases, the inpatient admission has higher reimbursement than the SNF visit.

Thank you so much for your response, it's a great help!  So I would just bill for the inpatient admission, is that right? 
: Re: Which modifer to use?
: Michele September 25, 2010, 12:07:58 AM
From what you have described the inpatient admission seems to trump the nursing home visit.