I have an MD that provides medication assisted treatment (Suboxone, specifically) for substance abuse. For a typical follow up visit, she bills for an office visit (CPT 99213 or 99214) and a urine drug screen. She was recently out of the office for a week, but patients still needed to come in for drug screens, which were done by the nurse on staff.
I've received the provider's charge sheet for the week she was gone, and she's requesting that I bill for the drug screens, but also for CPT 99212. I questioned her on that, since she didn't actually see the patients. She stated that they were nurse visits.
I'm not a coder, but from everything I've read online, it seems like she should be using 99211 if the nurse was the one who conducted the office visit. But I'm not confident about this. Does anyone have any feedback on this? Thanks!!
