School of Medicine Alumni Information

If you have a concern about anything related to our billing process, you have an obligation to report it. We recommend beginning by bringing it to your supervisor’s attention. If you do not receive a satisfactory explanation, or you are not comfortable speaking to your supervisor, you should contact the Compliance Office. Our telephone numbers and fax number are on the first page of the website. If you would prefer to sit down and discuss your concern, our office is located at 15 Medical Park, Suite 300.

We love questions! We particularly appreciate the opportunity to respond to questions before a new policy or process is put into place. The rules for coding and billing are complicated. It takes a group effort to keep up with all of them. Call or fax your question.

Sometimes we have patients come to the office to have blood drawn for routine tests. The patient does not need to see the physician. Can we bill for the venipuncture that is done by the nurse? What about for a lab test done by a lab technician?

Neither nurses nor lab technicians are enrolled as providers of service with insurers. Services provided by these staff members are only billable if they are done as a part of (“incident to”) the physician’s services to the patient. If the ordering physician or one of the other physicians in the group is present in the office suite at the time the services are provided, the service may be billed under that physician’s provider number. If no physician is present, the services cannot be billed. Patients should be scheduled for lab work when a physician is present to provide supervision.

The rules regarding physician supervision and co-signature requirements for nurse practitioners vary by payer. Please refer to the Nurse Practitioner Documentation and Billing Guidelines located under the Frequently Requested Documents tab on the left side of the Compliance Home Page.

Frequently Asked Questions