Extended Office Hours Code Added

If you are a physician who keeps longer office hours or you have a 24-hour clinic, a new CPT code has been created to identify those services.

The old coding method was to use 99050 when services were rendered by a physician outside of regular office hours but with more and more doctors and clinics extending their hours and 24-hour clinics becoming the norm, a code to designate those services rendered was needed.

Now when a doctor provides care on evenings, Saturdays, and holidays; the code 99051 should be used to designate “”provided in the office during regularly scheduled evening, weekend, or holiday office hours, in addition to basic service.”

Previously, many carriers had rejected or only paid partial reimbursements for CPT code 99050. Now with an exact designation for those services rendered outside of the traditional office environment, medical billing claims are expected to be fully reimbursed for these services rendered.

If your office still only operates on a traditional schedule–Monday through Friday, 9AM to 5PM; you can still report services using the revised code 99050.

If you are finding coding is becoming a nightmare to keep up with for yourself and your staff, consider that it might be time to find a partner to outsource your medical billing to. Your medical billing partner will handle your claims with the utmost of security and privacy and when you see your reimbursement times fall from the 30+ days you are probably accustomed to, to less than 2-weeks, you’ll wonde why you didn’t make the decision to outsource even sooner.

View all Articles by: Melissa Clark, CCS-P