College of Medicine Office of Compliance, Gainesville, Florida
COMPLIANCE TIP

Compliance Tip:  Billing for Critical Care Services (codes 99291 and 99292)
April 3rd, 2002

Rule: Billing for critical care codes 99291 and 99292 is based on time.  The physician must document the total amount of time the physician spent providing the critical care service, even if the time spent by the physician on that date is not continuous. For any given period of time spent providing a critical care service, the physician must devote his/ her full attention to the patient. This may include time spent engaged in work directly related to the individual patient's care whether that time was spent at the immediate bedside or elsewhere on the floor or unit.

Note: The physician must document the time in the dictation/progress note and should also document the time on the patient encounter form.

If you have any questions about this tip, or another compliance concern,
the Office of Compliance for the College of Medicine is here for you.
Please call (352) 265-8359 or e-mail Nina Tarnuzzer at nwt@ufl.edu.

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