I couldn't find the answer to this question searching the forum.
I am on a nursing based PICC team but a sister hospital is based out of radiology. Their nurses place piccs at the bedside. Would there be any difference is how these bedside procedures are billed? What if the line was placed with ECG and no imaging was done at all? Can they bill a professional fee for the radiologist? Is there a financial benefit to operating under the radiology department?
D.Cole
Fees are not based on departments. They are based on the professional. MD, DO, NP, PA can bill Medicare and other payers for a professional fee only. If these professionals had no part in the procedure, they can not bill anything. Lots have gotten into trouble over this because it could be regarded as fraud. RNs can not bill. Makes no difference about the dept where you are practicing. Billing for everything comes through the hospital. I can not see any financial benefit of operating out of the radiology dept. In fact, we are moving away from radiology inviolvement with ECG. There can be hospital procedure fees in the hospital chargemaster system but that does not mean the reimbursement will actually be that set fee. Lynn
Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN, BC, CRNI
Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc.
126 Main Street, PO Box 10
Milner, GA 30257
Website http://www.hadawayassociates.com
Office Phone 770-358-7861
Thank you Lynn. As I suspected. I'm not certain how they are billing this out but will look into it.
Darilyn
Darilyn Cole, RN, CRNI, VA-BC
PICC Team Mercy General Hospital Sacramento, CA