 |
Heads up. A newly designated CPT code may help you bill for and collect reimbursement for online patient consultations.
Effective July 1, physicians can use CPT code 0074T to bill for online evaluation and management services.
News about the code is important because many physicians have resisted moving to electronic communications with patients because of reimbursement snags.
Patients, however, are eager for this service. Participants at the May TEPR (Towards an Electronic Patient Record) conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., learned that nearly a third of patients reported they would switch physicians if they could find one who used online communication. (Go to http://www.aafp.org/fpr/20040700/2.html and scroll to "Enhancing patient communication" to read more about what patients say they want.)
More and more payers "are willing to consider reimbursement" for online E/M services, said Kent Moore, AAFP manager of health care financing and delivery systems.
Physicians should be heartened by news of the code, said Moore. Even if third-party payers are not willing to pay, "this CPT code provides a mechanism for tracking online evaluation and management services through existing billing processes and charging patients where appropriate," he said.
To learn more about the CPT code, go to http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/article/3885-4897.html, scroll down to "Category III Codes for CPT® 2004," and then read about code 0074T.
FP Report is published by the
AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2004 by
American Academy of Family Physicians.