Taking Some Of The Confusion Out Of Consult Requests

Filing the proper documentation can end up being confusing enough without the added problem of finding out that you did not file the right papers to begin with. For any individual who has ever been involved in taking care of consult request documentation for physicians, this filing procedure has often been known to be a complete nightmare. There have been recent worries that specialists would end up being responsible for others who have filed either incorrect or incomplete paperwork, according to some rules in the Medicare guidelines.

Any time that you find yourself faced with incomplete consult request documentation, you should know that you are not to be held responsible for the other physician’s office. Although it would be nice to always have the request from the physician in writing, it often happens where the files are missing this paperwork in particular. It is nearly impossible to become involved in such a paper chase to keep track of all of the consult request documentation.

Because it is so difficult to keep track of such a crazy paper trail when the improper requests are filed, it has now been deemed necessary to keep the consulting party or physician off of the blame list. Such measures to further control such problems may be taken in the future to help remedy these problems, but it is not thought to happen unless insurance providers or carriers begin to complain that they are still having problems with the incomplete or improperly filed documents.

View all Articles by: Melissa Clark, CCS-P