A Podiatrist Guide to billing Telemedicine

Yes, Podiatrists can bill for advice given over the phone. With the outbreak of the coronavirus this may become a crux for Podiatrists to survive. Yes, you can bill for advice for patients you see over the phone or remotely and it is not that hard. As always one of the keys for Podiatrists billing for a conversation or phone call for a patient over the phone is to bill accurately.

It’s actually rather simple. You can bill using your typical EM codes 99201-99215 depending on the complexity of the encounter. The important part will be to include the modifier code of GT. This will let the insurance company know that the encounter occurred remotely via a telemedicine platform.

Now some insurance companies may prefer you use the code 99444. This is a somewhat rare and unused code. Check with the insurance company. Some prefer you use this code as this code was developed directly for telemedicine.

If you are seeing a Medicare or Medicare advantage patient, they actually developed a specific chart for you to use for telemedicine which you can find here:

https://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning-Network-MLN/MLNProducts/downloads/telehealthsrvcsfctsht.pdf

Now if this is something you would like further information on, especially if your practice is laid up, I would recommend getting one of these books that delve far too deeper.