Caregiver consult w/physician

The caregiver (son) of one of our elderly patients consulted with our doctor about nursing home placement. Can we code this as an E/M visit for the patient? If so, do we use the ongoing diagnosis codes that the patient is routinely seen for? Please help!
Thanks,
Kim

re: Caregiver consult w/physician

Medicare holds fast to its rule that E/M codes must be conducted face-to-face with patient present, so for Medicare no bill if patient is not present.

re: Caregiver consult w/physician

See Medicare's Internet-Only Manual (IOM) Pub. 100-4, Chapter 12, section 30.6.1(C), for Medicare's rules on E/M codes (http://www.cms.hhs.gov/manuals/104_claims/clm104c12.pdf).
It specifically says, "In the office and other outpatient setting, counseling and/or coordination of care must be provided in the presence of the patient if the time spent providing those services is used to determine the level of service reported."

re: Caregiver consult w/physician

Also, search "family" in the search box, and you'll find an article "family meeting without the patient present"

There have been topics in this forum, as well.