Nonphysicians on Rounds

Question: We now have a nurse practitioner (NP) in our office, and she will be doing some of the hospital rounds. How do we bill when a nonphysician provider does hospital rounds?

Answer: You can't bill under the physician's name in this case, since the concept of incident-to billing does not apply to the inpatient setting. So if you want to bill under the physician's name, he'll need to continue doing rounds. Coordinate the NP and physician schedules to allow the NP just to do the prep work, followed by the physician, which will make the physician's rounds faster. Or you can apply for provider numbers for the NP. In that case, you'll receive 85 percent of the allowable.