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Coding Cues: Specifying place of service-satellite or outpatient facility?

Our surgery practice has a satellite office in a nearby hospital. We report place of service 11 (office) for the E&M services we provide at that location, but our Medicare carrier recently notified us that because we're located in an outpatient hospital facility, we should be specifying place of service 22 (outpatient) instead. Is this correct?

Key Points

Our surgery practice has a satellite office in a nearby hospital. We report place of service 11 (office) for the E&M services we provide at that location, but our Medicare carrier recently notified us that because we're located in an outpatient hospital facility, we should be specifying place of service 22 (outpatient) instead. Is this correct?

It is, if the hospital is providing the space for you to see patients and you're not paying fair market value rent for it. If you are paying a fair market value lease for the space, however, you've created an extension of your office location (satellite), and reporting the place of service as 11 is correct.

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