Facility billing/coding

Our GI lab has posed a question to me. When they have patients scheduled for PEG tube placment they would like to bring them into the facility (hospital oupt location) for education regarding the use and care of the PEG tube on the day prior to the procedure. They are wondering if there is anyway to actually bill for this service. Apparently they don't feel the education received on the same date as the procedure is as effective as it could be. I'm not seeing a way to do this. Any suggestions or thoughts?

Education - Part of Procedure

Hi,

My understanding is that education of this type should always be considered part of the procedure and would not be separately billable under the situation you described. Perhaps, someone else has a different opinion.

Facility Billing & Coding

Unless the patient requires some instruction/education that is considerably outside the norm, I see no reasonable way to separately bill. It is expected that routinely indicated instruction be a part of the procedure. What would be the difference in providing the instruction the day before vs the day of the procedure?

Possible E&M Visit

I have a different take on the scenario than the previous two commenters. While agree that education related the procedure itself is part and parcel of the procedure being billed, education related to the care of the device once placed is another animal all together. In order to bill for this time you could incorporate this education into your facility visit criteria (E&M). It would also require a physician's order for the education related to the care of the device. I would also be careful if you have a pediatric population that you ensure the patient is actually present during the education and its not just the parents. Face to face would be required.