Please help! lol
I work for a multi-physician practice and we just brought a Licensed Associate Counselor (LAC) on board to assist with mental health. Patients spend about 45-50 minutes with the LAC and the physician comes in at the end to go over treatment plan/ medications. I am being told this should be billed as a 99215 with depression/anxiety dx, and the LAC does not need to be listed on the claim. I am not sure this is correct, as looking at the claim, you wouldn't even know the patient sat with an LAC. It is only in our physicians name. I worry about this as the physicians are treating other patients while the LAC is spending 45-50 minutes for mental health. Please advise.