July 11, 2019

Question:
I heard you speak at the recent AANS coding course – you were awesome and the course was fantastic…everyone should go.  The surgeon I work with has a question regarding billing. Some of the hospitals in the area have a Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant on staff that see Neurosurgery consults for us.  My neurosurgeon will see the consult too. The mid-level writes the note but my neurosurgeon goes in afterwards and attests to the note and signs off. Is he still able to bill for the consult?

Answer:
Thank you for your kind words!  I’m so glad you thought the course was worthwhile.  To answer your question, no, the neurosurgeon may not bill for what the hospital-employed PA/NP does and documents.  Rather, the neurosurgeon will bill for the service that s/he personally performs and documents.

*This response is based on the best information available as of 07/11/19.