August 2019 EM Coding Patterns

This week’s BIG Ideas Podcast is based on a project I did for a non-surgical specialty practice last week.  The initial concern was that some providers felt like other providers would see a patient, bill the 9920x series new patient code, and then refer the patient to another provider who could only bill the 9921x series established patient code.  The second provider in line lost the opportunity for a higher dollar visit.  The accompanying Excel graphic shows the initial analysis comparing who sees the patient first vs. who sees the patient next.  I have done similar analyses for neurosurgery groups trying to understand patterns of care between a new patient visit and a surgical procedure.  What insights can you obtain from a similar set of data in your practice?  Have your IT group pull your new and established patient data and analyze the results in Excel.  You might be surprised at what you find.