Medicare regulations

Does medicare require face to face visit between provider and patient when coding established office visits? CPT says and/or with family.

face to face

The E/M service codes require a face to face encounter by the physician. CPT states for Counseling and Coordination of Care, it can be with patient/family. This is only considered when billing on "Time" alone.

E/m

To bill for a patient visit conducted at a clinic, office, hospital, emergency department or nursing home setting, a physician must select an EM code that best represents the service performed. These codes are organized into various categories by delivery site of service, then into as many as five separate "levels" or "established" /"new" patients. All these categories and code levels are intended to provide the physician with an opportunity to select the code that best reflects the extent of his/her personal work necessary to perform the visit service.