Level 2 vs. Level 3 H&P Coding Comparison.

This lecture will assist physicians and other non-physician practitioners (NPPs) determine if their initial hospital admission note documentation meets criteria for a level 2 (mid level H&P) or a level 3 (high level H&P) evaluation and management (E/M) code.  Recovery Audit Contractors will likely continue to target high level initial hospital encounters for improper payments.  Physicians and other NPPs must continue to pursue documentation education to prevent accusations of over billing and to prevent under billing for work provided.  I am an internal medicine physician with over 10 years experience as a clinical hospitalist.  Based on my decade of experience and exhaustive review of E/M coding criteria, I believe most level 2 H&P hospital admissions would qualify for a level 3 H&P if practitioners understood how to document  work already being provided.  The link above provides free access to dozens of billing and coding lectures I have written to help others quickly decipher the complex rules used to determine the correct CPT® code for most inpatient and outpatient hospital and clinic encounters.  CPT® DEFINITIONSThe American Medical Association's 2014 Standard Edition CPT® provides definitions of all E/M services.  This valuable resource is available through Amazon by clicking on the image to the right and below.   I have previously discussed level two initial inpatient and observation hospital admission (CP...

Source: The Happy Hospitalist - April 10, 2014 Category: Internists and Doctors of Medicine Authors: Tamer Mahrous Source Type: blogs