CPT® 2012: AMA Clarifies About New Patients and ‘Qualified Healthcare Professional’

Note the changes affect your use of 99201-99205, 99460-99461, and more.

Coding guidelines can sometimes seem confusing when you're trying to decide whether to classify a patient as new or established. For example, when an established patient presents to your practice to see a new physician, should you report a new patient office visit code?

CPT® 2012 attempts to clarify this question and one other E/M stumper: Who counts as a "qualified healthcare professional" to administer that vaccine or provide prolonged service?

'New Patient' Classification Goes to a New Level

Currently, CPT® indicates that a "new patient" refers to a [...]

- Published on 2011-12-16