tci Part B Insider - 2005 Issue 24

CRITICAL CARE: Two Physicians, One Hour-Who Bills For Critical Care?

With many hospitals hiring critical care teams to handle critical cases,  physicians are finding themselves elbowed aside when their patient reaches a crisis point.No two physicians can bill for critical care during the same hour, notes Jennie Horner, a coder with Southern Ohio Medical Center in Portsmouth, OH. If a physician starts out treating a critical patient for the first hour, and then a critical care team takes over, the first physician can bill for the period before the team took over, Horner notes. "It's doable if it's documented.""Some physicians have a little trouble understanding that...

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