Medicare Eliminates Consultation Codes for Doctors

Now that Physicians cannot bill Medicare for consultations how will they get paid for patient care? Capture’s medical billing video explains how in easy to understand terms.

Washington, DC (Vocus) – On January 1, 2010, Medicare eliminated consultation codes. These codes are what healthcare providers submit to Medicare for reimbursement when a patient is seen for a medical consultation, whether in a provider’s office or hospital setting. Healthcare providers, coders, and medical billers will have to learn new ways to code for these services.

Capture Billing and Consulting, Inc., a medical billing company, helps keep healthcare professionals informed and up to date on the latest coding and billing specifications and regulations. With its newest release of the “Medical Billing Minute” video, Capture Billing hopes to educate physicians on how to code in the aftermath of the elimination of the Medicare consultation codes.

The “Medicare Eliminates Consultation Codes” video provides basic information on what codes are eliminated by Medicare and how to bill for the services physicians will still be providing. By the use of straight forward graphics, Capture Billing makes this complex issue easy to understand. This video, just out, is already being used to educate physicians and billing staff in offices around the country.

In some medical specialty practices, consultations can account for up to 90% of office visits. With the elimination of the consultation codes, physicians will now have to use other codes that reimburse less. The financial impact on some practices may be devastating.

“The physicians will have to be very careful with their medical billing,” states Manny Oliverez, Director of Operations at Capture Billing. “With the reduced reimbursements physicians will need to have their billing people be even more diligent in collecting and following up on unpaid claims.”