This question comes up at seminar after seminar.  Someone says, "My billing manager told me that PAs (or NPs) can't do consults. Is that true?"  It is a half truth.

PAs and NPs may perform consults, as long as consults are in their state scope of practice.  They may perform consults on Medicare patients.  However, they may not perform these services as either incident to services or shared services.  For Medicare patients, consults performed by an NP or PA (or, as Medicare calls them, Non-Physician Practitioners) must be billed under the NP's or PA's own provider number.  Do not bill Medicare under the physician's provider number for a consult performed all or in part by an NP or PA.