March 28, 2019

Question:
Thanks for answering my question last time – I get it now that I would not charge for rounding on post-op patients of my call partners. What about non-surgical patients?  Occasionally we may have a patient hospitalized with a non-operative condition such as septic arthritis for IV antibiotics that require evaluation and management services?   May I bill for making rounds for evaluation of these patients / conditions?

Answer:
Yes, absolutely!  As mentioned in the earlier question, you should treat the patient as if it were your own. So you would bill for subsequent hospital care (9923x) on patients previously seen by your call partner during that hospitalization. Remember, for the trauma patient with unrelated injuries, that the reportable E&M is only for that work that is unrelated; any evaluation of the surgical condition may not contribute to the level of E&M reported.

*This response is based on the best information available as of 3/28/19.