Re: US docs only. Telephone consults
From: art fougner, md (evsono@pipeline.com)
Sat Feb 24 16:46:27 2001
phone consult is a problematic - more trouble than its worth. it's not
just the money, either.
art
At Sat, 24 Feb 2001, Garry Siegel wrote:
>
>The more I do this, the more I find myself telling my nurse to have so
>and so come in to talk, rather than spend 15 minutes on the phone for
>free. For instance, a patient who was in for an annual in December had
>an abnormal mammogram after the exam, yada had a lumpectomy for early
>breast cancer, and now is having hot flashes since stopping HRT. Rather
>than talking on the phone, I had her come in--which is reasonable, I
>think.
>
>IMHO, quickie phone calls for vaginitis, suspected UTIs, are just life.
>
>How do lawyers do it? It's easy, as they send you a bill, and you pay
>it. We have a third party involved, and it isn't so simple.
>
>Robert's comments notwithstanding, if you do wish to bill for a phone
>call, use the correct codes as Myer has provided. Then, see what the
>EOB says:
>1. If the service is a non covered one, like cosmetic surgery, bill the
>patient--fair and legit.
>2. If the carrier covers it, but it is part of the deductible, or if
>you should collect a co-pay (maybe the co-pay is $10 and the charge was
>only $25) and co-insurance, do so.
>
>My point is that if the carrier doesn't recognize it, I believe that it
>is no different than other non-covered servcies (cosmetic surgery comes
>to mind), and you can bill directly.
>
>The patient won't like it a bit, and I've done this once to encourage a
>patient to seek care elsewhere. I didn't get paid, but it worked!
>
>All in all, I don't think that it is worth it.
>
>If you want to do phone consult work for 15 to 30 minutes, such as the
>case I mentioned above, you probably should either:
>1. Tell the patient it may not be covered, and how much it will cost.
>She may rather send you $50 for 20 minutes, and not fool with a visit. I
>could live with that! Of course, you or your staff would need to tell
>her that up front, and what a can of worms that would be.
>2. Prior to calling, know whether it is covered or not--again, a
>hassle. If covered, feel free to call and bill, and the patient has to
>pay the co-insurance/co-pay as per the EOB.
>3. Limit phone calls to those you feel are justified/appropriate; for
>instance, I feel that a follow-up call to discuss bone densitometry
>results is part of the service from the annual wellness exam, at which
>time we had covered the possibilities.
>
>Garry
>
>--
>Garry E. Siegel, M.D., F.A.C.O.G.
>Roswell, GA
>Private Practice
>
--
art fougner, md
A series of 1000 cases begins with but a single anecdote.
