Q&A. While patient education alone isn't an E/M service, the technical component can be
APCs Weekly Monitor, March 6, 2009
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Q. For some time, the head of our radiation oncology department has requested that I set up an E/M code for billing the time the department head spends educating patients. From my viewpoint, our charges include education. Can you settle the dispute?
A. Education alone does not warrant a separate E/M service. However, it is customary to establish facility E/M codes to capture the technical component of the radiation oncologist’s evaluative and consultative visits with patients, since they involve facility space and resources.
Editor’s Note: This Q&A is adapted from the HCPro newsletter Briefings on APCs, October, 2008.
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