Benchmark of the Week: Specialists and E/M levels, 2009

This chart compares specialists’ E/M utilization and denial rates by code level, focusing on the most common (level 3) and the top two levels (4 and 5). NOTE: Primary care is the top biller of E/Ms and was thus not included to emphasize the specialty data. Level 3 E/Ms retain their claim to being the top level billed in terms of sheer volume, accounting for the largest slice of the utilization pie for seven of the 12 specialties analyzed. However, five specialties – cardiology, hematology/oncology, neurology, pulmonary disease and rheumatology – bill more level 4s than level 3s or level 5s.