When a consulting doctor skips the interprofessional consult verbal report, it may cause some confusion when trying to submit an accurate code. There is only one code available for an interprofessional consult done without the verbal report. Continue reading below to learn what code should be used in this scenario!
Question: Our doctor frequently forgets to perform the verbal report. Is there a way to report the consult at all?
The practice has been reporting the interprofessional consult codes (99446-99449). The code description reads: “Interprofessional telephone/internet/electronic health record assessment and management service provided by a consultative physician, including a verbal and written report to the patient’s treating/requesting physician or other qualified health care professional” followed by time ranges of services of 5-10 minutes, 11-20 minutes, 21-30 minutes or 31 minutes or more for “medical consultative discussion and review.”
Answer: Yes. When the physician performs at least five minutes of medical consultative time and the only thing missing is the verbal report, you may submit code 99451. This code reads: “Interprofessional telephone/Internet/electronic health record assessment and management service provided by a consultative physician, including a written report to the patient’s treating/requesting physician or other qualified health care professional, 5 minutes or more of medical consultative time.”
This code is the only code available for an interprofessional consult done without the verbal report. Code 99451 will reduce the revenue the clinician could have earned, had he spent at least 21 minutes on an interprofessional consult.
The national payment for 99451 is $36.29, compared to $53.74 for a 21–30-minute consult (99448) and $73.28 for 31 minutes or more (99449). It’s definitely worth the clinician’s time to perform and document the verbal opinion portion of the service.
**Medicare Part B news, August 9, 2021.