ER coding

I recently did an internship day at my local hospital, and in the process of my trainer explaining their EMR to me, she explained that when they bill ER charts, they bill two separate CPT® codes for the visit-one for the doctor, based on his level of work, and one for the nurse, based on her amount of work. The amounts charged are hard coded into the system based on the level of the visit. She said that it was easier for the patients to understand it that way. Does any other facility do that?

re: ER coding

Yes, the facility that I work at does this and it is just not with ER's there are a specific set of letters followed by numbers that are attached (harcoded) to CPT® charges for example if the ER bill may look like this EMR09001- (this is the PF, charges for the physician, professional) EMR08110 (this is the TC, charges for the nurse, technical) translation the EMR09001 is attached (hardcoded) to E/M level 99281. Does that make sense? This is what is keyed when charging ED visits we also use this for Anesthesia charging, Observation charging and, Outpatient surgery. We reference it as the Chargemaster as it serves the same purpose for many procedures, injections, that are frequently used in these areas. Is this hospital a critical access or an acute care facility?