Right or Wrong?

Is it acceptable to report an established patient E&M code when the intent of the visit is for the history and physical (H&P) and surgery is already scheduled?

The PA sees the patient and the visit is referred to as "surgical clearance."
This is by the provider's office who will be performing the procedure the next week.

pre-op visit

If the surgery has been scheduled, the pre-op visit is included in global fee. Cannot be billed separately. (Same practice).

pre-op visit

Get a copy of the CPT Assistant from May 2009. This is an explicitly asked and answered question. They say, "If the surgeon sees the patient and makes the decision for surgery and then the patient returns for a visit where the intent of the visit is the preoperative H&P, and this service occurs in the interval between the decision-making visit and the day of surgery.....the visit is not separately billable as it is included in the global package."


I think you can buy individual copies on the AMA website of one month, without subscribing. Then, you'll have the source documentation to show your group.