March 14, 2019

Question:
I have just a quick question regarding weekend rounding. I share weekend call with another practice that I am not affiliated with. We sign off our patients to each other when we cover our respective calls.   Sometimes when rounding I check on 5-10 of their patients, some of which are their post-ops. Since I am not part of their practice, is this something I can bill for? If so, should I bill a consult or a follow-up visit?

Answer:
Good question. You should not charge for rounding on their post-op patients and they shouldn’t charge for rounding on yours. You should treat the patients as if they were your own, and you would not bill for routine post-op care on your own patients. This concept is the same as if you were rounding on your partner’s patients.

*This response is based on the best information available as of 3/14/19.