How do in-hospital referrals work?
20 January 21A specialist doctor asked how the various specialists below should claim for their services in this very common scenario. Patient attends the Emergency Department (ED). The ED Dr refers the patient to Dr A and Dr B (of different specialties) for inpatient management of a complex presentation. Dr A performs an initial consultation and is then covered for a few days by Dr C. Dr B performs an initial consultation, which identifies another problem requiring the expertise of Dr D. At the end of the admission, there are outstanding specialist issues that require outpatient follow-up with Drs A and D. 1. Should all four specialists bill using the in-hospital override for all consultations? Can A, B and D all claim a 110 or 132 as reflective of the service they provided? 2. If C identifies a new issue that requires assessment and a change in treatment, can C claim an in-hospital 110 (non locum tenans)? 3. If A and D use an in-hospital override for inpatient claims, and then receive a subsequent Medicare-compliant referral for outpatient review of the issue(s) managed during the admission, does the outpatient review occur “after the end of the period of validity of the last referral to have application” (because the last referral expired at hospital discharge). If so, can they claim a 110?
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