Health Information Management

Tip: Distinguish between therapeutic and diagnostic tests

APCs Weekly Monitor, October 23, 2009

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Facilities need to have a clear understanding of when a procedure is diagnostic and when it is therapeutic.
 
Some procedures are diagnostic but are considered therapeutic for the purpose of supervision. For those types of procedures, physicians often provide the required level of supervision by being present in the surgical suite. Any procedures that involve injection of contrast or other type of radiological substance clearly require direct supervision.
 
Facilities need to understand how services are classified to ensure the proper level of supervision. Consult the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and review codes by level to determine the necessary level of supervision.
 
This tip was adapted from the article “Hospital outpatient departments need to know who is supervising” in the November issue of Briefings on APCs.
 



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