Incident-to Billing is not for Residents

Article

Some third-year resident physicians would like to moonlight at our clinic, but insurance companies have told us they will not recognize billing by residents. Is there a way around this problem? Can we bill them under me as medical director although I am usually not on premises?

Question: Some third-year resident physicians would like to moonlight at our clinic, but insurance companies have told us they will not recognize billing by residents. Is there a way around this problem? Can we bill them under me as medical director although I am usually not on premises?

Answer: No, incident-to does not apply to residents, and besides, you’d need to be on premises to bill incident-to. Note that you may be able to bill Medicare. The AAMC has a summary of the rules on its Web site.

For private insurers, they call their own shots, although it may still be worth a few more phone calls to try and negotiate a solution, depending on the volume of billing.

Newsletter

Optimize your practice with the Physicians Practice newsletter, offering management pearls, leadership tips, and business strategies tailored for practice administrators and physicians of any specialty.

Recent Videos
Keeping Fridays fun
Is there more of an appetite for regulating administrative burden?
Should your practice outsource?
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.