Hospitalist

Hello,

When a pt is pronounced dead by an RN and is not seen at all by the hospitalist the only service he provides is the dictation of a discharge summary note can he bill anything for that? I know he cannot charge a 99238 or 99239 since CMS clearly states that "only the physician who personally performs the pronouncement of death may bill for the face to face hospital discharge day management services" Could he possibly charge a 99232?

Thank-you
JB*

Great question

and one that I have struggled to understand the logic of CMS. Even if the ED doc comes and pronounces a patient dead, it is the attending/hosptialist who is responsible for the paperwork and should be compensated for that. By this guidance, if the doctor did not see the patient at all that day, then it is a freebie. If there was a pre-death face to face visit, then the time spent on the discharge summary, if done the same time and on the unit, could be added to the visit time to increase the visit level.

Thanks

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