Admit Documentation
In light of the recent elimination of consultation codes from the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, physicians of all specialties are being asked to report initial hospital care services (99221–99223) for their first encounter with a patient.1 This leaves hospitalists with questions about the billing and financial implications of reporting admissions services.
Here’s a typical scenario: Dr. A admits a Medicare patient to the hospital from the ED for hyperglycemia and dehydration in the setting of uncontrolled diabetes. He performs and documents an initial hospital-care service on day one of the admission. On day two, another hospitalist, Dr. B, who works in the same HM group, sees the patient for the first time. What should each of the physicians report for their first encounter with the patient?
Each hospitalist should select the CPT code that best fits the service and their role in the case. Remember, only one physician is named “attending of record” or “admitting physician.”
When billing during the course of the hospitalization, consider all physicians of the same specialty in the same provider group as the “admitting physician/group.”
Admissions Service
On day one, Dr. A admits the patient. He performs and documents a comprehensive history, a comprehensive exam, and medical decision-making of high complexity. The documentation corresponds to the highest initial admission service, 99223. Given the recent Medicare billing changes, the attending of record is required to append modifier “AI” (principal physician of record) to the admission service (e.g., 99223–AI).
The purpose of this modifier is “to identify the physician who oversees the patient’s care from all other physicians who may be furnishing specialty care.”2 This modifier has no financial implications. It does not increase or decrease the payment associated with the reported visit level (i.e., 99223 is reimbursed at a national rate of approximately $190, with or without modifier AI).
Initial Encounter by Team Members
As previously stated, the elimination of consultation services requires physicians to report their initial hospital encounter with an initial hospital-care code (i.e., 99221–99223). However, Medicare states that “physicians in the same group practice who are in the same specialty must bill and be paid as though they were a single physician.”3 This means followup services performed on days subsequent to a group member’s initial admission service must be reported with subsequent hospital-care codes (99231–99233). Therefore, in the scenario above, Dr. B is obligated to report the appropriate subsequent hospital-care code for his patient encounter on day two.
Incomplete Documentation
Initial hospital-care services (99221–99223) require the physician to obtain, perform, and document the necessary elements of history, physical exam, and medical decision-making in support of the code reported on the claim. There are occasions when the physician’s documentation does not support the lowest code (i.e., 99221). A reasonable approach is to report the service with an unlisted E&M code (99499). “Unlisted” codes do not have a payor-recognized code description or fee. When reporting an unlisted code, the biller must manually enter a charge description (e.g., expanded problem-focused admissions service) and a fee. A payor-prompted request for documentation is likely before payment is made.
