AAHPM Spring Quarterly : Page 9SPRING 2012 9 Q. As a hospice medical director, if I have seen a patient in his or her home and billed for a new patient visit, and that patient then gets admitted to a skilled nursing facility and I visit him or her there, what billing code should I use? A. New/established are outpatient billing codes. You can only use a new code once with a given patient, assuming that neither you nor a member of your group or your specialty has seen the patient in the past 3 years. When the patient moves into a facility, new/established codes become irrelevant unless they move out again. After they have moved into a facility (ie, become patients), you would use the inpatient codes, which are initial/subsequent and can be used regardless of whether the patient is new or established with the physician. These codes are based on the episode of inpatient care. The initial codes are used by the admitting physician once and can be used by a consulting physician—once per consult—regardless of whether the patient is new or established with the consulting physician. Have a question about how to bill for a visit? Send questions to info@aahpm.org, with “billing and coding” in the subject line. POSITION OPPORTUNITY: MEDICAL DIRECTOR OF PALLIATIVE CARE SERVICES UNIVERSITY OF UTAH MEDICAL CENTER SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH The University of Utah Palliative Care Service within the Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine seeks a physician for the position of Medical Director for the adult palliative care consultative service in Salt Lake City, Utah. Established in 2006, the Palliative Care Service serves complex, severely ill patients with a broad range of diseases. This is an academic faculty position and candidates should be interested in working with an interdisciplinary team of physi-cians, advance practice nurses, social work, and chaplaincy to provide patient care, house staff education, and research. Candidates should have experience in the field or be Palliative Medicine fellowship trained. Excellent salary and benefits are included. Salt Lake City is well situated for a variety of outdoor activities such as world-class skiing/snowboarding and mountain biking/hiking, offers low-cost living expenses and possesses a rich and diverse array of cultural opportunities including theater, symphony orchestra and ballet. Please apply and submit CV and bibliography to: http://utah.peopleadmin.com/postings/13628 Inquires may be sent to: University of Utah Palliative Care Service, Division of General Internal Medicine Nathan Wanner, MD, Nathan.Wanner@hsc.utah.edu 50 North Medical Dr. Salt Lake City, UT 84132 The University of Utah is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer and does not discriminate based upon race, national origin, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, disability, or status as a Protected Veteran. Upon request, reasonable accommodations in the application process will be provided to individuals with disabilities. To inquire about the University’s nondiscrimination policy or to request disability accommodation, please contact: Director, Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, 201 S. Presidents Circle, Rm 135, (801)581-8365. VOL. 13 The University of Utah |
